A woman has pleaded not guilty to killing a child after she was accused of using a deadly substance to tackle bedbugs in her east London flat.
Jesmin Akter, 33, of Shadwell in Tower Hamlets, denied charges of manslaughter and importing a regulated substance at a hearing at the Old Bailey on Friday (January 12).
The court heard how on November 26 in 2021, Akter allegedly imported aluminium phosphide from Italy without a licence.
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She then allegedly scattered pellets of the regulated poison around her flat in Shadwell to tackle a bedbug problem that was rife in her block.
Aluminium phosphide was allegedly activated by moisture to create a dangerous gas - phosphine - that travelled to the flat of a girl.
The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, died in hospital on December 11 that year.
Akter is currently on bail and faces a three-week trial from July 1 at the Old Bailey with a further hearing on April 19.
(Reporting by PA Media).
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