A coroner said he was "at a loss" to explain how a mum and daughter died in their flat and were discovered six months after they were last heard from. Zarin Adatia, 84, and her 48-year-old daughter Tasneem were discovered by engineers completing a gas safety check on November 24 last year.
Their council flat run by Barnet Homes, is in the East Finchley housing development Prospect Ring. The pair were last seen in April last year and weren't behind on their rent or known to social services, Barnet Coroners' Court was told.
North London Assistant Coroner Peter Straker said he was "at a loss" as to how or even when either of them died. Post-mortem and toxicology examinations revealed nothing because so much time had elapsed between their deaths and the discovery of their bodies.
Mr Straker gave an open verdict, stating: “Tash Adatia and her mother Zarin Adatia died together at their home address sometime before 24 November 2022.” Zarin’s only surviving daughter Farah Mehta told the court that they spoke every day over the phone, particularly after Tasneem, known as Tash, was recently hospitalised for type two diabetes.
Contrary to her doctors’ recommendations, she discharged herself from hospital after presenting with fatigue and suspected diabetic ketoacidosis, stating her mother, who she was the full-time carer for, could not be left alone overnight. However, Mr Straker had no evidence that this caused her death, particularly given that she was medicated.
Ms Mehta told the court she suspected Tasneem, could have fallen into a diabetic coma, given her medical history. However, she was distressed that there was zero evidence to elucidate how her mother died.
Mr Straker suggested it could have coincidentally been two “simultaneous” unexpected deaths, but he ultimately decided even that would be speculative. A caretaker was concerned for the pair’s welfare after they had not been spotted for several months.
He checked their second floor flat windows and balcony, but couldn’t see any signs that anyone was inside. He raised it to his line manager at Barnet Homes who, the court heard, didn’t remember the conversation because there are frequently similar concerns casually raised by caretakers.
It wasn’t until gas engineers broke into the property to complete an annual gas safety check that the bodies were discovered in the same room. Barnet Homes gas engineers had secured a court warrant to enter the property because the pair had not responded to inquiries about their annual gas safety check, including six letters, three telephone calls, and several door knocks.
A fan was whirring in the living room and Tash was lying near a knotted bag containing three empty sachets of painkiller co-codamol. Her mum was nearby. The first responding officer PC Asad Iqbal said Tash's iPhone was charging next to her on a small bedside table.
Constable Iqbal called in Criminal Investigations Department (CID), but on investigation they ruled the deaths non-suspicious. Giving evidence via video link, Mr Iqbal said there was very little food in the fridge.
Further investigations, summarised in evidence provided to the coroner’s court, came no closer to revealing how the pair died. Mr Straker said: “This is tremendously difficult. We are left really unsighted as to what happened, as you know.
“We are left in the plane of speculation, and I am not allowed to speculate as to what may have happened. When I first read of your case and how they were found I was left thinking about carbon monoxide gas poisoning, and there was no evidence of that being the case.
“I have a glancing thought it was suicide, but then I found nothing that supports that was a reasonable explanation. It is very difficult to think of anything that is not speculation. It has been helpful to be given the information about the diabetes, but then, it was being treated.
“It is so difficult to suggest a reasonable explanation for what happened, I am at a loss. It I don’t know what to say, there is a possible it is just a simultaneous passing. All that remains now is to say how sorry I am, to lose two people so close to you must be very painful and difficult and you have my deepest sympathy. I’m very sorry.”
Ms Mehta, who has lived in Scotland for several years and did so at the time of their deaths, posed many questions about the circumstances to the coroner and Mr Iqbal. She was visibly distressed when describing how she had some indication of how Tash may have died, but no such information existed for her mother.
Sat next to her young daughter in court, she said: “She stopped ordering a prescription in April, it wasn’t right, everybody knows she was right on going [to collect it.] There was nothing to suggest she was suicidal - she was unwell, of course, she was feeling dizzy, or she needed to use the toilet a lot more.
“So if there was a thought pressing, it would be a diabetes coma sometime from April, if that was what happened to Tash. But what do we have for my mum? I’m left with, I don’t know what. At least with Tash what we have got is the medical, she was unwell.
“But mum, Tash was her carer, mum was pretty much immobile. She didn’t have a major health condition. Obviously she was elderly, but she was taken care of well. She had ailments you get at 80, but nothing that was life-threatening.”
Tash, who was qualified in beauty and had several jobs including working in retail, was born in Nairobi, Kenya and Zarin in Mombasa, Kenya.
Council chiefs tried "repeatedly" to contact a pensioner and her daughter found dead in their north London flat six months after they were last seen alive. Zarin Adatia, 84, and her 48-year-old daughter Tasneem were discovered by engineers completing a gas safety check on November 24 last year.
Their council flat run by Barnet Homes, is in the East Finchley housing development Prospect Ring. A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “Barnet Homes tried repeatedly to contact Mrs and Miss Adatia.
"This included delivering six letters, two phone calls and three door knocks. We finally obtained a warrant for a forced entry which is when their bodies were found.
"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Mrs and Miss Adatia and we extend our sincere condolences to their family and friends."
