A family plagued by thousands of maggots falling into their kitchen were horrified to discover that the source was a body which had been decomposing in the flat upstairs for a month.
Karen Davy was baffled when the bugs began dropping from the ceiling of her home in East Dulwich, south London – and called in police who broke into the flat upstairs and found a decaying body.
The housewife, who shares the flat with her teacher husband Tayo, 40, and their children Naledi, 15, Caira, 11, Micah, ten, and Ayanda, nine, said it has now become overrun with the maggots and flies.
Mother-of-four Mrs Davy, 37, said: 'I can't even sleep at night. I have been sitting up waiting for them to appear, and then frantically cleaning with a bucket of bleach when they do.
'The kids are traumatised. The younger ones are frightened to go into the kitchen. I'm disgusted by the maggots, but more traumatised by what happened to my neighbour.
'The housing group first said they would come round, but then said it was nothing to do with them – it was only when I got the police involved we found the problem.
And they still haven't sorted it. We've blocked the hole ourselves, but they are still finding a way in. Now they are starting to turn into flies, and the council still haven't cleaned out his flat. It's disgusting.'
The family first noticed a few maggots on September 17 but returned from a meal two days later to find hundreds in their kitchen.
Mrs Davy called Southern Housing – one of the country's largest housing associations – and after days of making calls, claimed they failed to take action.
After several sleepless nights, she began asking neighbours if they were suffering similar problems, and with the help of a caretaker peered into the flat above.
She said: 'We looked through the window, and I've never seen anything like it. There were flies coming out of the window above my head, and then were was a breeze of air from inside and the smell was horrendous. I almost threw up. I called the police straight away.'
'The kids are traumatised. The younger ones are frightened to go into the kitchen. I'm disgusted by the maggots, but more traumatised by what happened to my neighbour'
Police broke into the property and discovered the body of ex-Gulf War soldier Richard Williams, 49, on September 22.
And, a week after the body was found, Mrs Davy claims Southern Housing has still not cleaned the upstairs property.
Mr and Mrs Davy tried to block the hole in the ceiling next to their water pipe where the maggots had been entering – but they were still getting in.
She added: 'It's disgusting. They've removed the body but the council haven't cleared up. I don't know how much longer we can go on like this. I can't even spray an insecticide because of my daughter's asthma and I'm fed up.'
A Southern Housing spokesman admitted it had not been able to clean the flat above because of the police probe. The firm has now carried out pest control treatment in Mrs Davy's flat.
Regional operations manager Stephen Lee said: 'Southern Housing Group would like to apologise for any distress that has been caused to Ms Davy by the maggots coming into her flat from upstairs.
'We have carried out a treatment for maggots in Ms Davy's flat but unfortunately, due to the ongoing police investigation in the flat above, we have not been able to enter the premises above.
'We looked through the window, and I've never seen anything like it. There were flies coming out of the window above my head'
'As soon as we are given the all clear from the police we will be able to send in our pest control contractors to address the issue. We are continuing to work with the police to resolve this issue as soon as possible.'
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Police were called to an address in SE22 at 11.44am on September 22 after concerns for the welfare of a man.
'A body was found at the address which has not yet been formally identified, but which police believe it to be the registered occupant, a 49-year-old man.
'A post-mortem was conducted at Greenwich Mortuary on September 26. No cause of death has been determined at this time and further tests are being conducted.
'Whilst police do not have an exact time of death, the man had not been seen for a number of weeks. Next of kin have been informed. The death is being treated as unexplained at this time but is not believed to be suspicious.
Source: By Mark Duell for MailOnline
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