Woman denies killing girl after allegedly using imported bedbug poison

Jesmin Akter, 33, denied charges of manslaughter and importing a regulated substance

A bedbug (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A woman has pleaded not guilty to killing an 11-year-old girl after allegedly using a poisonous substance to tackle bedbugs in her flat.

At an Old Bailey hearing on Friday, Jesmin Akter, 33, denied charges of manslaughter and importing a regulated substance.

On November 26 2021, the defendant allegedly imported a regulated substance, namely aluminium phosphide, from Italy without a licence.

She allegedly scattered pellets of the substance – which is a regulated poison – around her flat in Shadwell, east London, to tackle a bedbug problem that was rife in her block of flats.

The aluminium phosphide is alleged to have been activated by moisture to create the dangerous gas phosphine which travelled to the flat of an 11-year-old girl.

The victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died in hospital on December 11 2021.

Akter, who is on bail, faces a three-week trial from July 1 at the Old Bailey with a further hearing on April 19.