'They banged on my door as I was told to leave... two weeks after my baby died'

The mother of a baby girl who died at 28-days-old - having spent her short life in a basement flat susceptible to damp, cold and mould - claims she was told by a social housing provider she had 48 hours to leave two weeks after the tragedy.

Irah Izzy Best's mother Ainsley Barker claims she received a text telling her to vacate the Salford property a fortnight after her daughter died.

She claims workers from Cromwood Housing Group banged on her door while she was coming to terms with her unthinkable loss. Calls, emails and further texts followed, she claims.

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

Ainsley spoke to the Manchester Evening News following an inquest into her daughter's death. She and her partner feared the conditions at the flat were a factor in her falling fatally ill.

A coroner acknowledged the 'suboptimal' conditions at the Weaste Lane property, where there was damp, mould and a sump pump with an 'element of sewage contamination' and a 'high' level of E. Coli.

But experts could not link the bacteria - or damp or mould - to Irah's death, the cause of which remains unknown. Ainsley and her partner's agonising wait for answers goes on.

They moved into the temporary accommodation, allocated by Salford council and run by Cromwood Housing Group, on November 15, 2022. Irah was born on January 1, 2023. She fell ill and died at Salford Royal Hospital at just 28-days-old.

Still reeling from the tragedy, Ainsley says she was horrified when she claims to have received a text informing her she had to vacate the flat two weeks after Irah's death. She says she had nowhere to go.

"I was told I had to pack up my belongings and had 48 hours to vacate the premises," Ainsley told the M.E.N. "We didn't know why they did it. They didn't really offer me anywhere. They were constantly ringing me - every single day."

Ainsley claims there was later 'banging on the door', adding: "I don't think that's acceptable to anyone. It caused me a lot of stress and confusion."

The couple, Ainsley said, had nowhere else to go. Grieving their child, they stayed in the flat. They moved their bed upstairs into the living room to get away from the basement bedroom and the noisy, unsealed sump pump.

"Eventually, they offered me somewhere permanent," Ainsley added. "It took around six months. I wasn't going to leave because that would have made me homeless."

Ainsley said they still had to go downstairs to shower. "It wasn't nice showering down there. There was issues with the shower smelling of egg. I felt lightheaded when I used to go to sleep.

"We made do with what we had, because I didn't want to leave the property." The couple became increasingly concerned about mould and damp in the flat and commissioned a private contractor to carry out an inspection at their own expense.

Subsequent inspections of the property by the contractor - as well as scientists specialising in fungus - found that while there was mould, it was not a species harmful to humans.

Footage taken while Irah was alive shows water leaking from a light fitting, while images show damp patches on a wall. Images of the sump pump show the lid open and brown water inside. The water was found at the inquest to have had 'high' level of E. Coli and an 'element of sewage contamination'.

Looking back to when they first accepted the flat, Ainsley says that while she knew they could have turned it down, the alternative - in reality - was homelessness.

"I feel like if I said no to the flat, if I refused, I would have made myself homeless and I could have got Irah taken off me," she said. "I felt like I wasn't given a choice to live there.

"People should have more of a choice, especially if they're pregnant. If you're pregnant you should be put somewhere without a sump pump. Your health is different when you're pregnant."

Ainsley and Irah's dad say they were curious - and concerned - about the sump pump in the bedroom. "The first question we had when we went round to the property was 'what's this in the bedroom?'," she said. "I said 'I didn't think it's safe with a new born baby'.

"No one was there when I moved in. If someone's pregnant, they should at least be there to check it's safe for the baby."

Coroner Timothy Brennand - who described Ainsley and her partner as 'good, attentive, and vigilant parents' - said they had been left with the question 'what if?'.

It's a question Ainsley echoes speaking to the M.E.N: "We are asking ourselves 'what could have been?'."

Paying tribute to her daughter, Ainsley said: "She was beautiful. When she was born she didn't even cry at all. Irah means 'watchful', she was always watching. She was born with her eyes open."

The family was represented by the barrister who dealt with the case of Awaab Ishak, Christian Weaver. He raised concerns the parents were not granted legal aid after a request was refused.

He and solicitor Kelly Darlington represented the family free of charge. "It cannot be right that Irah's grieving parents were expected to navigate this inquest without legal representation, particularly in circumstances where the organisations responsible for housing Irah were represented by experienced legal teams," Mr Weaver told the M.E.N.

"This reflects a broader systemic issue within the legal aid framework, where families in complex inquests are often left without the support necessary to ensure equality of arms. Such an uneven burden should not be imposed on those seeking answers during the most difficult of times."

A spokesperson for Cromwood Housing Group told the M.E.N: "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. In respect of your query relating to engagement with Ms Barker following Irah's death, we recognise that this period of time must have been unimaginably painful for her, and we again express our sincerest condolences."