We may never know why she died - but we know her short life was a tragedy

We may never know why Irah Izzy Best died, but we know her short life was a tragedy. She spent the majority of her 28 days in a basement flat susceptible to damp, cold and mould.

The social housing accommodation - intended as a temporary measure - had a sump pump in the bedroom cupboard. There was 'an element of sewage contamination' in the water captured in the basin of the device, with high levels of E. Coli later detected.

Irah's parents did everything they could for their daughter, determined to give her 'the best possible start in life'. "They did nothing wrong," the coroner presiding over the inquest into her death said.

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Now, he added, they've been left asking 'what if?'. It's a question Irah's mother echoes: "We are asking ourselves 'what could have been?'."

They wanted answers. Did the conditions at the Salford flat play a part in their beloved daughter's death? Could the tragedy have been avoided?

Comparisons with Awaab Ishak - the little boy who died following exposure to mould at his family's social housing flat - were inevitable, not least as Irah's parents were represented by the same barrister, Christian Weaver.

In the end, the cases differed. The coroner at Awaab's inquest concluded the conditions at his home did cause his death from a severe respiratory condition.

In Irah's case, no such link could be made. Experts could not say mould, damp or E. Coli were a factor. The cause of her death remains unknown - and her parent's agonising wait for answers goes on.

'Bewildered... angry'

Irah's mother Ainsley Barker and her partner were offered the Weaste Lane property - run by Cromwood Housing Group - by Salford council before their daughter was born. They were told they could turn it down, but Ainsley she knew she had no real choice while heavily pregnant.

"I feel like if I said no to the flat, if I refused it, I would have made myself homeless and I could have had Irah taken off me," Ainsley told the Manchester Evening News.

They moved into the property on November 15, 2022. Irah was born on January 1, 2023. Ainsley told her daughter's inquest at Bolton Coroners' Court: "I was ill from the beginning... moving into that property, up until I gave birth. I had a bad chest infection and I had a lot of mucus on my chest.

"When I used to get to shower in the wet room, which is next to the bedroom, the water in the shower would be eggy, smelly and sewagey [sic]. I would feel more unclean coming out of the shower than when I went in."

Otherwise healthy, Irah became ill in the early hours of January 28. Her parents performed CPR before paramedics attended and rushed her to Salford Royal Hospital. Despite medics' best efforts, she died at 9.25am at just 28-days-old.

The inquest explored the conditions at the flat and whether they were a factor in Irah's death. "Irah's parents engaged in the coronial process seeking to explore and obtain answers to how and why their child died," senior coroner Timothy Brennand wrote in his findings on the case.

"They understandably wish to know whether this was a natural or unnatural death; whether the environment in which the three were living was causatively implicated in this death; whether the fact there was a sump pump within a cupboard in the bedroom they occupied was in some way relevant to events; whether the susceptibility of the flat, being a basement flat, to damp, cold, humidity, mould and being poorly ventilated is causatively relevant.

"They seek to understand if their child's death could have been avoidable or in some way preventable. They remain bewildered, angry and hold honest and genuine beliefs that in some way the environment that existed in their flat has been causatively implicated."

In the end, an open conclusion was recorded, with the cause of Irah's death 'unascertained'.

Cold and damp

Consultant paediatric pathologist Dr Heather Keir told the court she did not find evidence to suggest mould, damp or E. Coli were a factor. The bacteria was detected in the sump pump basement 49 days after Irah's parents left the flat.

Professors Malcolm Richardson and David Hawksworth, who specialise in the study of fungus, also gave evidence. "The death of the infant is not due to mould growing in the property," Prof Hawksworth told the court.

"In this case, fungus of most concern to human health issues were either not recorded at all or at a level where they were not likely to pose a risk to human health," he added.

Prof Richardson said that following inspections, mould was identified, but it was not a type dangerous to humans. The coroner found there were 'only low levels of common environmental moulds throughout the flat reflecting minimal mould growth on exposed surfaces and spore dispersal'. He also said the period of time Irah was potentially exposed was 'modest'.

Addressing the sump pump in his conclusion, coroner Mr Brennand found there was 'potential exposure to sewage waste'. A sump pump is a device used to pump water out of properties prone to flooding. Water collects in a bucket in the ground and is pumped out when it reaches a certain level.

Mr Brennand said 'the lid of the pump was insecure and not sealed'. He accepted evidence the particular model was advertised as having an airtight lid, suggesting it could have been possible to seal the pump.

Speaking about the water in the sump pump, service manager at Salford council Rob Turner told the court: "I thought the level of [E. Coli] contamination was high. I'm not sure the length of time it was standing in the pump.

"The levels were high, but the property is pre-1990, so I would expect there to be some leakage. It would appear that there was an element of sewage contamination in the water."

But Dr Keir said: "If E. Coli were present and contributory, it would likely have been detected through tests undertaken at the post mortem examination."

The court heard that because of the electricity needed to run the pump, the energy bills were driven up. The family also had to buy two oil radiators to keep Irah warm and had to run a dehumidifier provided after they complained of the cold, damp conditions.

'Everyone now agrees this was inappropriate'

Following the inquest, Cromwood Housing Group confirmed it no longer has sump pumps at its properties. "Everyone now agrees that accommodating a new family in a property with a sump pump is inappropriate," the coroner wrote.

Mr Brennand said the flat was in 'good decorative order and appropriately maintained'. It was redecorated in November 2022. He said the evidence 'did not reveal any systemic or substantive failures in the operation that exists to procure, supply, allocate and operate temporary accommodation to vulnerable members of the community'.

Mr Brennand said there were no 'missed opportunities', or 'causative act or omission that would have had a bearing upon the ultimate tragic outcome in this case'. He did, however, accept conditions at the basement flat - susceptible to cold, persistent damp and mould and with a 'noisy unsealed sump pump' - were 'suboptimal'.

Following the death of Awaab Ishak - and the M.E.N's successful campaign for a change of the law in his name - Mr Brennand questioned Salford council's head of supported housing Rachel Connelly about measures taken by the authority to better inspect properties for damp and mould.

"We now have a team with regulatory services who is full time so that any issues around damp and mould can be inspected far quicker," she said. "Any issues around property condition and repair we would ask Cromwood to go out and inspect. Repairs we would always report to Cromwood."

Mr Brennand described Irah's mother and father as 'good, attentive and vigilant parents', adding: "I sense that as first-time parents, that notwithstanding the fact they had a number of socio-economic challenges and were within temporary accommodation, that within the best of their abilities, they wanted to be the sort of parents that would be able to provide for Irah the best possible start in life, and that she would be the sort of child who would want for nothing."

He added: "The loss of a life taken too soon is always a tragic event that has far reaching consequences, especially for the bereaved. When that life is that of a newly born infant, but 28-days-old, the sense of tragedy is compounded by not just the loss of life, but a loss of a daughter... the loss of what that little girl might have been, a loss of potential, the excruciating pain that inflicts upon the parents who suffer the most, who must forever ask themselves 'what if?."

Following the inquest, Cromwood Housing Group said in a statement: "Cromwood expresses our deepest sympathies for the tragic loss of Irah Best. Our hearts go out to Irah's family during this profoundly difficult time. We recognise the importance of the inquest into Irah's death and note the senior coroner's conclusion, and the coroner's finding that the property was provided in good decorative order, appropriately maintained and had been recently redecorated following the departure of the previous occupant. On the evidence, which included expert evidence, the senior coroner found that there was no causal link between the property and Irah's death."