A woman has been given a suspended sentence after killing her neighbor, a child on her 11th birthday, using poison gas brought from Italy to rid a London flat of bed bugs.
Jesmin Akter, 34, illegally imported aluminum phosphide without a license to tackle an infestation at her flat in Tower Hamlets, east London.
Without reading the packaging, she distributed the lethal drug around the house and took her family out for 24 hours.
The substance reacts with moisture to produce the toxic gas phosphine, similar to a chemical warfare agent.
The virus infiltrated neighboring apartments at Nida House, resulting in the death of Fatiha Sabrin on her 11th birthday and the hospitalization of another toddler on December 11, 2021.
Ackert pleaded guilty to manslaughter for committing an unlawful act and importing a controlled substance.
On Thursday she was sentenced to two years in prison, suspended for two years, plus 150 hours of unpaid work.
Judge Alexia Durran, at the Old Bailey, noted that the defendant’s block of flats had a bedbug problem.
“The landlord took some action but it seemed to be quite hasty and the staff who carried out the fumigation in the past appeared to have been poorly trained or not trained at all,” she said.
The judge said Ackert’s decision to solve the problem by carrying aluminum phosphide on passenger planes departing from Italy could have resulted in a “catastrophic mid-air accident and endangered hundreds of lives” if the packaging had been damaged.
The court heard that within a “relatively short period” of the mother-of-two handing out pills in her flat, other residents on the block, including children, began to feel unwell.
The judge cited a statement from Fatiha’s “heartbroken” father Mohammed Islam.
He described his daughter as “an amazing, smart child who makes friends with everyone and is a great help to her mother”.
The judge said: “Fatiha died on her 11th birthday. It is now a date that is troubling her family.
“My sentence will not bring Fatiha back to life and does not appear to be enough for Fatiha’s family.”
The judge noted Ackert’s previous good character and told her: “I understand you are overwhelmed with severe guilt.
“You never seem to forget that what happened to Fatiha was a result of your actions.
“A young life full of hope was lost.”
The court heard Akter initially told police she bought the substance in a shop but later admitted her mother had brought it to Italy from Bangladesh.
Prosecutor James Dawes KC said she spread pellets around the flat to deal with the bedbug problem, and the toxic gas phosphine produced then escaped into other flats.
He said the concentration of phosphine gas that leaked into Fatiha’s home was estimated to be between two and a half to 26 times the known lethal dose.
At 4 a.m. on December 11, Fatiha woke up and complained to her mother, Kaniz, that she needed to use the toilet and was vomiting.
Her mother called her GP and the 111 helpline before calling 999 at 9.30am.
Initially, medical staff advised Fatiha to take antidiarrheal medication and eat bland food.
London Fire Brigade checks carbon monoxide2 The court heard he had been poisoned but nothing was found.
Emergency services were called again at 1.30pm as Fatiha’s condition worsened. Paramedics found her not breathing and unconscious at 3:30 p.m., and she died in hospital just before 5 p.m.
The fire department declared a hazardous materials incident and further inspection determined poison.
“Concerns were also raised at the time as the first rescue by London Ambulance and Fire Brigade was carried out without full protective equipment,” Dawes said.
Ackert said in the statement that she purchased the “bed bug protection” product at the suggestion of her family but did not read the packaging.
She said she had “no idea the product contained a dangerous poison” and said she was left “desperate after her landlord tried and failed to eliminate the infection”.
Akter apologized to Fatiha’s family, who “paid the price” for her actions.
