Statement on the Altair, Sheila Seleoane report

We are devastated at what has happened. We are so sorry for our part in this and apologise to Sheila, her family, and everyone living at Lord’s Court.  

Published: 22/07/2022

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We commissioned an independent report into what went wrong and are publishing this in full:  The Sheila Seleoane Report 2022, Lessons Learned (pdf, 5.3mb)

The report finds that in this case - while we followed processes and made 89 attempted contacts with Sheila – our teams worked in silos and operated independently of each other which meant that we didn’t “join the dots” and realise something was wrong. 

When taking action in this case, we didn’t ask the most fundamental question – is Sheila ok?  

Tenants have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their home, and landlords do not have the right to enter someone’s home without the police or going through a legal process. But by connecting all the information that was available to us, we could have done much more to support residents in raising concerns with the police at an earlier stage. 

We have already made changes to some policies and are actively addressing all the recommendations in the report. We are determined to be a more responsive, locally focused and connected organisation in the future. Our new ways of working will invest in customer-facing teams, break down silos, and put our values into practice. 

We will also develop new partnerships that focus on addressing social isolation, supporting good mental health and wellbeing through our community work, and we’ll work with residents and others to find an appropriate way of commemorating Sheila to make sure she is never forgotten. 

Once again, and on behalf of everyone at Peabody, I am so sorry this happened. I am sorry that Sheila was so isolated, and we didn’t see, and I’m sorry that we didn’t support residents enough. We need to do better, and I am determined that we will.

Peabody Chief Executive, Ian McDermott 

View Ian's message