Girl, five, with autism drowned in canal after leaving her home, inquest hears

A young girl with learning difficulties who went missing from her family home drowned in a canal, an inquest heard.

Malika Hibu, a five-year-old girl with autism spectrum disorder, was a pupil at the Bridge School, in Islington, north London, a special school for children with severe learning difficulties and/or autism.

She fell into the canal and drowned on February 17 this year.

An inquest into her death on Wednesday heard that Malika used a thumb lock to open the door of her home at Crest Buildings, Wharf Road, and she ran towards the canal before she fell in.

She was discovered 25 minutes later in her pink pyjamas, lying face down in the water and was pronounced dead the same day at St Thomas’ hospital.

During the inquest, her mother, Huria Ali, said of Malika: “She’s funny, she’s sweet, she’s kind, but she does not talk because she has got autism.”

The inquest heard that Peabody, a housing association charity, was responsible for maintaining a safe barrier between homes and the canal that Malika fell into.

Detective Sergeant Lisa Jordan, of the Metropolitan Police, said: “There is a gap between the first and second barrier which a small child could easily crawl underneath.

She added: “From my point of view, I do not think that that barrier was appropriate for young families living so close to it.”

A temporary structure has now been erected to prevent further accidents.

The inquest heard arguments about who owned the wall on which the barrier was built.

St Pancras Coroner Mary Hassell said: “All of the evidence points in the same direction, which is that the housing association Peabody did in fact own the top of the wall.

“It didn’t realise it owned the top of the wall, it didn’t consider the barrier, it didn’t risk assess it, it didn’t act on any complaints.”

She added: “The rail that was present presented no appreciable barrier to a little girl who was just playing and was interested in the water below.”

The coroner said: “Peabody is responsible for many such buildings and I remain extremely concerned that they didn’t know for sure what they owned and what they didn’t own. They didn’t risk assess a very obviously potentially dangerous situation.”

She added: “What concerns me about all of that is a culture, it’s a way of thinking, and that’s what I want to bring to Peabody’s attention.”

Ms Hassell said she would make two reports to prevent future deaths, one in respect of planning, as there was no evidence of consideration of the barrier when a planning application for the development was made in 2014.

The second report would be to Peabody, who did not act on complaints and did not try to make the barrier safer.

The inquest heard Peabody sent an email to Islington Council in October 2023 to enquire about who owned the barrier but did not receive a response and only chased them a week before Malika’s death.

Tracy Packer, managing director for Peabody North East London, told the inquest that if the council had replied, Peabody would have acted sooner to make the area safer.

She repeatedly denied Peabody’s full responsibility for the accident.

She said: “It is difficult to be responsible for everybody’s actions. I understand that is a really difficult thing.”

Asked whether Peabody accepted responsibility for what happened, she replied: “In its entirety, I would say no.”

A Peabody spokesperson said after the inquest: “This was a heartbreaking and tragic accident, and our thoughts remain with Malika’s family and friends as they grieve their terrible loss.

“We’ll continue to support local residents and will consider all the points raised in the coroner’s report.”

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