The family of a nine-year-old London schoolgirl who died of an asthma attack have won the right to seek a new inquest.
Ella Kissi-Debrah’s death was linked to unlawful levels of air pollution after she died in February 2013, after three years of seizures and 27 visits to hospital for hospital attacks.
The youngster lived 25 metres from the South Circular road, in Lewisham, one of the capital’s busiest roads.
On Friday, her family were given permission by the Attorney General to apply for a fresh inquest.
If the family’s request is granted, little Ella may become the first person in the UK for whom air pollution is listed as the cause of death.
Lawyers say her original inquest in 2014 did not investigate the potential impact of air pollution, concluding that Ella's cause of death was acute respiratory failure caused by a severe asthma attack.
But an expert report by Professor Stephen Holgate, quoted in a submission to the Attorney General, concluded that it was likely that unlawful levels of air pollution contributed to Ella's fatal asthma attack.
