Death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah – Notification of Pre-Inquest Review Hearing on Friday 18th September 2020

The Pre-Inquest Review hearing into the death of Ella Kissi-Debrah will be a partially remote hearing on 18th September at 09.30 a.m.

Press and members of the public are invited to listen to proceedings, but must inform the court beforehand. Please see the court’s website for further information.

The Review is expected to establish a number of administrative issues including what witnesses are to be called to give evidence at the inquest and what further evidence is sought.

The Inquest itself is scheduled to take place 30 November to 11 December.

Rosamund Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s mother, is represented by Jocelyn Cockburn and Guy Mitchell of Hodge Jones & Allen, and Richard Hermer QC, Adam Straw and Ravi Mehta of counsel.

For additional information regarding the Inquest, please email: hja@yellowjerseypr.com.

Context

Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, 9 years old, lived close to the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south east London. She died in February 2013 after having seizures for three years and having visited hospital 27 times for breathing problems related to her asthma.

In 2014, an inquest into Ella’s death concluded the cause of her death to be “acute respiratory failure”, however it did not investigate the role that air pollution played in her death.

That inquest was quashed by high court judges in 2019 because of new evidence that had come to light about the risks of air pollution. The court ruled that a new inquest into Ella’s death must be held.

During the Pre-Inquest Review hearing in December 2019, the Assistant Coroner, Phillip Barlow, stated that the new inquest will examine whether air pollution contributed to Ella’s death.

Media contacts:

Yellow Jersey PR:
Georgina Whittle
T: 0808 239 4011