UK government issues apology and financial settlement to family of child killed by air pollution

The British government has apologised for the death of a nine-year-old girl who is believed to be the first person in the UK to have air pollution listed on her death certificate.

It comes after a decade-long battle that highlighted the risks vehicle emissions pose to children in low-income communities.

The apology was part of a settlement announced on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by the mother of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who developed severe asthma just before her 7th birthday and suffered severe seizures before she died on 15 February 2013. The government also made an undisclosed financial settlement.

“Although this isn’t going to bring Ella back, we finally accept this is acknowledgement of what happened to her, and to put the issue of air pollution firmly on the map, that it’s a public health crisis… and something needs to be done about it,’’ Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, Ella’s mother, said after meeting with government officials.

“Today it is finally over, but I am going to continue, and I have been reassured by the government that they’re going to be continuing to work with me to clean up the air.”

Air pollution kills about 40,000 people a year in the UK

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah fought to reopen the coroner’s inquest into Ella’s death after the so-called Dieselgate scandal revealed how Volkswagen obscured the true level of emissions released by its diesel-powered vehicles.

Research by the Royal College of Physicians later showed that about 40,000 deaths can be attributed to outdoor air pollution each year in the UK, with the burden falling most heavily on low-income communities close to busy roads and other major sources of emissions.

Ella grew up just 25 metres from the South Circular Road, a major conduit for traffic along the southern edge of central London.

Britain’s High Court in May 2019 set aside the findings of the original inquest, which attributed Ella’s death to asthma.

In December 2020, a second inquest found that air pollution was a contributing factor in Ella’s death, along with acute respiratory failure and severe asthma.

Throughout her illness, Ella was exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter that exceeded World Health Organization guidelines, Deputy Coroner Philip Barlow ruled. There was also a “recognised failure” to bring nitrogen dioxide levels within the limits set by European Union and domestic law.

Mother’s campaign for better air quality has made 'considerable impact'

“Ella’s mother was not given information by health professionals about the health risks of air pollution and its potential to exacerbate asthma,” Barlow said. “If she had been given this information, she would have taken steps which might have prevented Ella’s death.”

The child's estate, which is administered by her mother, sued the Environment Department, the Department for Transport and the Department of Health and Social Care for compensation over Ella’s illness and premature death.

The government on Thursday described Ella’s death as a “tragedy”, and said her mother’s public campaign for better air quality had “made a considerable impact”.

Adoo-Kissi-Debrah said Environment Minister Emma Hardy reaffirmed her commitment to pass legislation that will bring the UK in line with WHO standards, according to a statement released by her law firm, Hodge Jones & Allen.

“On behalf of the government departments who were party to the claim, we again take this opportunity to say we are truly sorry for your loss and to express our sincerest condolences to you as Ella’s mother, to her siblings, and to everyone who knew her,’’ the government said in the statement. “To lose a loved one at such a young age is an immeasurable loss.”