Aiat Mohammed still clutches one of the last babygrows her son wore.
Exhausted by grief, she holds the tiny blue and green outfit tight. Occasionally, when everything becomes too much, she lifts it to her face and breathes in deeply.
“I didn’t wash it,” she tells me, “because it’s got his scent”.
Her son, Akram, was just 15 weeks old when he died in hospital in London on 21 February.
Image: Akram Mohammed died in February when he was 15 weeks old
His parents took him to hospital a day after raising concerns about his breathing. Doctors attempted CPR in front of them – but the little boy couldn’t be saved.
Aiat remembers the moment she saw the monitor flatline, and the medical team stepped away from his tiny body: “They said to me, ‘You can come and touch his head now’. I was saying, ‘Please, can you try again? Please, do the CPR again?’ And they said, ‘Sorry, we can’t. We can’t do anything anymore. We need to stop’.”
An inquest to determine the circumstances of how and why Akram died will be held in the summer.
The family lawyer, Mark McGhee, says a pathology report suggested he died of acute pneumonia due to a late-onset Group B Strep infection. But he fears the state of their crowded and mouldy housing association flat played a part.
Image: Akram and his siblings Adam and Asfahan
Home riddled with damp
Photos make it clear their one-bedroom Camden home was riddled with damp, long before Akram – the couple’s third child – was born at the end of last year.
Black mould pushed the wallpaper from the walls, stains and damp kept coming back no matter how much they scrubbed and cleaned with harsh chemicals, and no matter how much they begged the housing association – Notting Hill Genesis – for help.
Image: Pic: Suzanne Martin
An independent inspection before the baby’s birth in December found the landlord “in breach of its duty to ensure the property is and will remain fit for human habitation”.
Mould was found on either the walls or ceiling in the single bedroom, living room, bathroom and kitchen. To make things even worse, the family say that after complaining about broken windows, a contractor arrived to seal them shut – making ventilation almost impossible.
Akram’s father Abdushafi Mohammed, a car mechanic from Sudan, told Sky News: “You felt it in the air, in your chest as soon as you walked into the flat.” Aiat remembers the “very, very rotten smell, very strange smell. You don’t want to be in there for more than a minute”.
Image: Pic: Suzanne Martin
Their baby began to rasp at night, and then they could hear a rattle in his chest during the day. But his worried parents were told he would “grow out of it”.
‘Drowning in fluids’
Savvas Panas, the chief executive of the Pillion Trust Charity, who has supported the family for years, told Sky News: “The child was strong, he was big and very healthy, but he was drowning, you could hear it, he was drowning in fluids.”
He claims to have spent months escalating concerns through the housing association, and Camden Council.
Image: Pic: Suzanne Martin
Abdushafi puts it simply: “No one helped us.”
The cause of death is unknown, an inquest has been set up, and a coroner is expected to rule on how and why he died later in the year.
Patrick Franco, chief executive of Notting Hill Genesis, said: “We are deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Akram Mohammed and extend our sincere condolences to his family, their friends and neighbours. We will continue to support the family in any way we can during this difficult time.
“We know that this is a complex situation and will continue working with the relevant authorities as they conduct their investigations.
“No determination has been made by HM Coroner as to the cause of Akram’s death, and it would therefore be inappropriate to comment further or to speculate at this time.”
A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Akram’s death is a tragedy, and our thoughts are with his family at what is a very sad time.
“We have been in regular contact with Notting Hill Genesis – most recently this week – and they have assured us that they are working to identify a suitable home for the family. We will remain in touch, doing what we can, until this situation is resolved.
“As with any unexpected death, there will be an inquest to determine any contributory factors and learnings for local agencies.”
Richard Blakeway, housing ombudsman, said: “This is a tragic case and our thoughts are with the family at this difficult time.
“Whilst the complaint was still within the landlord’s complaints process when Akram passed away, and therefore we were unable to take it on as a formal investigation, we have offered support and advice to the family, including progressing their complaint with the landlord. We will continue to liaise with the family as this case progresses
“Landlords should take a zero tolerant approach to damp and mould. The introduction of Awaab’s Law is a positive step. However, landlords should not wait for its introduction to take further action, including proactively identifying damp and mould in homes rather than waiting for residents to report it.”
Complaints about conditions have risen sharply
Akram’s death comes as the housing ombudsman’s office reveals complaints about substandard living conditions in social housing are more than five times higher than they were five years ago.
The ombudsman deals with disputes between residents and social housing landlords in England, and found there were 6,380 complaints investigated in the year to March 2025, up from 1,111 in the year to March 2020.
Reasons for complaints included asbestos, electrical and fire safety issues, pest control, leaks, damp and mould.
‘I would have ripped that family out of there’
Mr Panas said that despite their long-standing battles with the mould, he advised the family to stay in the sub-standard flat, knowing that if they left, they would lose social housing support by making themselves “intentionally homeless”.
But, if he could go back in time, he said: “I would have ripped that family out of there. I would say, just grab your children and get in the car and let’s go.”
A man has died after suffering cardiac arrest onboard a boat attempting to reach the UK.
The vessel turned back towards Equihen beach on the French coast yesterday morning.
A nurse tried to resuscitate the man but was unsuccessful.
Image: Pic: PA
French authorities have now launched an investigation into the circumstances.
A spokesperson for Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, has criticised authorities on both sides of the Channel.
Jacob Burns said: “Yet again we have a tragedy in the Channel, that is the consequence of the deadly, costly and ineffective security policies implemented by the UK and France.”
Image: Pic: PA
Later on Saturday, a lifeboat carried migrants who have made the voyage into the Port of Dover.
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Photographs showed them huddled under blankets and orange life jackets on board.
“The opportunity of tomorrow and what’s on offer is the best thing in football,” the England captain said. “I think we don’t necessarily carry the weight of it and how much it means to people, but we’re aware of it because it means the same to us.”
So often they were only watching other nations making finals.
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England’s first was the men winning the 1966 World Cup.
Image: England manager Sarina Wiegman reacts to defeat against Spain at the Women’s World Cup final in 2023. Pic: Reuters
Image: Lauren James looks dejected after their World Cup defeat, but is confirmed fit for Sunday’s revenge match against Spain. Pic: Reuters
Now, in Basel, comes the chance for revenge against Spain – even though no one in the England camp is saying that, publicly at least, in Switzerland.
Especially knowing how challenging a task it is coming up again against Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putella – the recent winners of football’s biggest individual honours.
Image: England fans celebrating after England beat Italy to reach the finals. Pic: Reuters
Image: Given England’s history against Spain, it could be a nerve-wracking time for England fans. File pic: Action Images/Reuters
But this is Spain’s first Euros final.
And there is some fear from the world champions at England’s grit and resolve to produce comebacks late in the quarter-finals and semi-finals – with 19-year-old Michelle Agyemang’s goals integral to the fightbacks.
Image: England celebrate their semi-final win against Italy to reach the finals. Pic: Reuters
Image: Michelle Agyemang has propelled England to the Euro 2025 final with two vital goals. Pic: AP
Spain captain Irene Paredes reflected yesterday on how the Lionesses can flip a result late on.
But she was also discussing how their World Cup win was tarnished by the on-pitch kiss that led to former Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales being convicted of a sexual assault on striker Jenni Hermoso.
It sparked a wider clamour in Spain for improved rights and respect for women.
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Spain’s players struggle for respect
“Since then [2023] we took big steps forward,” Paredes said.
“I think this idea is disappearing from society. I still believe we have to continue opening doors… we’re a reference for boys and girls in society, but we still have things to do.”
It is a reminder that while tonight is about collecting silverware, both England and Spain know that emerging as champions can drive further growth in women’s football back home.
Amid it all, they’ll try to savour just what reaching a final means and how rare they are – until recently for English and Spanish women.
A woman who thought she was being injected with Botox was left unable to swallow and doctors thought she had suffered a stroke – after she contracted a life-threatening illness from a potentially illegal product.
Nicola Fairley is one of dozens of people who have developed botulism linked to unlicensed anti-wrinkle injections.
She had the procedure done with her regular beautician after winning a Facebook competition for three areas of “Botox”.
Image: Nicola Fairley
“Within two or three hours my forehead and the sides of my eyes had started to freeze,” Nicola says.
“At first I thought ‘amazing’, that’s what I wanted – then it just carried on.”
Nicola was eventually sent to A&E in Durham, where she met several other patients who all had similar symptoms.
Doctors were stumped. “They thought I’d had a stroke,” she says.
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“We all had problems with our eyes, some of us with our breathing. I couldn’t swallow – they put me on nil by mouth because they were worried I would choke in the waiting room.”
Image: Doctors were worried Nicola could choke after she was injected with a suspected illegal product
It turns out all of the patients had recently had anti-wrinkle injections containing botulinum toxin.
Health officials believe they were imported, illegal products.
Botulism – the disease they caused – is so rare many doctors never see it in their entire careers.
It can cause symptoms including slurred speech and breathing problems, and can be deadly.
The disease is so unusual, and so many cases were coming in, that doctors exhausted their stocks of anti-toxin and had to ask hospitals as far away as London to get more.
The UK Health Security Agency has so far confirmed 38 cases of botulism linked to cosmetic toxin injections, but Sky News has been told of several more.
The outbreak began in the North East but cases have now been seen in the East of England and East Midlands as well.
There are only a handful of legal botulinum toxin products in the UK – of which Botox is one.
But cosmetic treatments are largely unregulated, with anyone allowed to inject products like fillers and toxins without any medical training.
Cheap, illegal products imported from overseas are easily available.
Image: Dr Steven Land
‘It’s the Wild West’
Dr Steven Land runs Novellus Aesthetics clinic in Newcastle upon Tyne. He worked for decades as an emergency medicine doctor before moving into aesthetics.
He says he has been warning health officials of an outbreak for years.
“It’s the Wild West,” Dr Land told Sky News.
“Because anyone can do this, there is a lack of knowledge around what is legal, what’s not legal, what is okay to be injected.
“These illegal toxins could have 50 units, 5,000 units or rat poison – there could be anything in there.”