A mother and teenage daughter were discovered dead in their home MONTHS after their call for an ambulance was mistakenly dismissed.
Alphonsine Djiako Leuga, 47, and her 18-year-old daughter, Loraine Choulla, were found in their council home in Nottingham, England, on May 21, 2024.
Authorities now believe they may have been dead for weeks or even months before their bodies were discovered, BBC News reports.
During an inquest at Nottingham Coroner’s Court, officials confirmed that Alphonsine had called 999 on February 3, pleading for an ambulance.
That call, however, was mistakenly labeled as “abandoned” and closed without dispatching emergency services to the home.
Detective Con Jack Cook of Nottinghamshire Police said police believe Alphonsine, who had sickle cell anaemia and had recently been hospitalized for a lower respiratory tract infection, died not long after making the emergency call.
The mom's cause of death was recorded as pneumonia of uncertain cause. Meanwhile, Loraine’s cause of death remains “unascertained,” but authorities think she died before her 18th birthday in April.
"I am truly sorry that we did not respond as we should have to Alphonsine Djiako Leuga and Lorraine Choulla. Our deepest condolences remain with their family,” Keeley Sheldon, Director of Quality at the East Midlands Ambulance Service, said in the statement.
"We fully accept the Coroner's findings. After our internal investigation, we made changes to our policies, procedures, and training to ensure this does not happen in future," they added.
Loraine, who had Down's Syndrome and learning disabilities, was described as “entirely dependent” on her mother for care. She was “primarily non-verbal” and had been known to social services for years.
In 2023, Nottingham City Council put her under a child protection plan due to ongoing concerns for her well-being. However, the plan was closed prematurely on January 31, 2024 - just days before the 999 call and Alphonsine’s death.
Nichola Goode, a service manager for the council's whole life disability team, told the inquest that closing the plan was a mistake.
“I think in hindsight, now that we've looked at that, it was a wrong decision made by child social care. We could have followed more thorough inquiries,” she said. “We accept that we shouldn't have closed the plan.”
Goode also revealed that Alphonsine had recently been discharged from the hospital after receiving life-saving treatment. A follow-up visit from social care was attempted, but the team left when “it appeared no one was home”.
She told the court: “Had we believed Alphonsine and Loraine were inside, we would have called the police.”
Officials are now examining whether there were missed opportunities to intervene, particularly if it’s determined Alphonsine died before her daughter, who could not survive without her mother’s care.
Loraine had stopped attending her special education school in 2022, and her mother had gradually disengaged from housing, education, and social services since 2021.
Detective Cook also visited the home in 2023 to support social services and found the house clean, with food in the refrigerator. Despite Loraine’s social isolation, the relationship between mother and daughter was described as warm.
The inquest will continue to investigate how both women died and whether intervention by social services or emergency responders could have changed the outcome.