Government departments facing claim over air pollution death

The High Court has this month (27 January) held a case management hearing in relation to a claim against three Governmental departments over the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, the first person in the UK to have "air pollution exposure" listed as a cause of death.

The claim, brought on behalf of Ella's estate, argues that tthe Government breached the Human Rights Act, including a breach of the right to life.

The departments are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Department for Transport and the Department for Health and Social Care.

The claim was issued against the Government bodies in December 2020 for breaches of Articles 2, 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and Articles 13 and 23 of EU Directive 2008/50/EC.

Ella grew up approximately 25 metres from London's South Circular Road in Lewisham, London.

She passed away in 2013 after suffering a fatal asthma attack.

In a report published in 2021, Coroner Philip Barlow concluded that air pollution contributed to Ella's death.

He found that during the course of her illness between 2010 and 2013, "she was exposed to levels of nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter in excess of World Health Organization Guidelines. The principal source of her exposure was traffic emissions."

Richard Hermer KC and Kate Boakes of Matrix Chambers and Ravi Mehta and Gayatri Sarathy of Blackstone Chambers represent Ella's mother, Rosamund, and her family.

Nancy Collins, Ruth Waters-Falk and Siri Beck-Friis of Hodge Jones and Allen are also assisting in the claim.

Adam Carey