Sarah McGreevy: Woman dies after falling from sixth-floor balcony in London while clearing blocked drainpipe

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A woman died after falling from her sixth-floor balcony in her London flat while attempting to fix a blocked drainpipe.

Sarah McGreevy, 37, suffered fatal injuries when she fell from the height after stepping onto a wooden box at around 9.40am on June 16. A coroner has now urged Hackney Council, the freeholder of the premises, to take action following the death of Ms McGreevy, who reportedly worked as a fashion designer at online retailer ASOS.

Following her death, a police investigation found that residents on the fifth and sixth floors of the building regularly climbed onto their balconies to clear drainpipes manually. Residents would often do this after heavy rain, the inquest heard.

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Sarah McGreevy fell from her sixth-floor Hackney flat balcony and died while attempting to fix a blocked drainpipe, an inquest into her death has heard.Sarah McGreevy fell from her sixth-floor Hackney flat balcony and died while attempting to fix a blocked drainpipe, an inquest into her death has heard.
Sarah McGreevy fell from her sixth-floor Hackney flat balcony and died while attempting to fix a blocked drainpipe, an inquest into her death has heard. | funeral-notices.co.uk

A wooden box was found on Ms Greevy’s balcony, as well as her mobile phone on a nearby window ledge following her fall. Officers are found that the pipe she had been attempting to clear had been repaired previously with “heavy duty tape”.

The coroner noted that photographs of Ms McGreevy’s hand showed dirt underneath her fingernail, which was "consistent with undertaking a cleaning task". Sarah Bourke, an assistant coroner for inner north London, said: "I found that it was more likely than not that Ms McGreevy had climbed onto the wooden box to clear the pipe and had accidentally fallen over the balcony.

"In the absence of remedial works, the practice of residents unblocking pipes themselves is likely to continue. In my opinion, action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you and your organisation have the power to take such action."

Hackney Council has been instructed to respond to the coroner’s report by January 1, 2025. A spokesperson for the council said: "This is a tragic case and our thoughts are with the friends and family of Sarah McGreevy.

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"The coroner has detailed a number of issues for us to consider in her prevention of future deaths report. We do not expect anyone living in a Hackney Council home to clean their own guttering and, like the coroner, we want to ensure an incident like this doesn't happen again. We will be carefully going through her report and responding as quickly as possible."

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