Inquest opens into the death of Rebecca Ikumelo

An inquest into the death of Rebecca Ikumelo has been formally opened today by Senior Coroner Andrew Harris at the London Inner South Coroner’s Court. Saunders Law represents Rebecca’s mother, Yetunde Olodo.

Background

Rebecca died after being caught in a crush at the Brixton O2 Academy on 15 December 2022, where she had been attending a concert by the artist, Asake.

What happened today?

The hearing today was a short hearing for the inquest to be formally opened. The Coroner announced that AP Security (the security company) and the Academy Music Group (owner of the O2 Brixton Academy) will be Interested Persons in the inquest. The Coroner also said that there may be other parties who are designated as Interested Persons in the future. The Metropolitan Police Service were not designated an Interested Person today, but given that they have questions to answer about their conduct during the incident, Rebecca’s family hope that they will be designated as an Interested Person in the future.

What happens next?

At the end of today’s hearing, the Coroner adjourned the inquest pending the conclusion of the police investigation into potential criminal offences committed during the incident on 15 December 2022.

Cyrilia Davies Knight, a partner at Saunders Law, said:

“Today is the start of my client’s quest for justice. She knows that this journey will be a long and difficult one, but she is determined to find out what happened to her daughter and for those responsible to be held accountable. My client hopes that the police will do a robust and thorough investigation.”

If you think that you have information that may be of interest to Rebecca’s family about the incident at the Brixton O2 Academy on 15 December 2022, please contact them via their Twitter handle @J4R_Ikumelo or a speak to a member of our team.