Police found no evidence that a London Victoria station worker was spat at before her death from coronavirus, they have clarified.
Belly Mujinga, 47, died in April after being hospitalised with Covid-19, following an alleged incident on the station concourse involving a member of the public.
Ms Mujinga’s union the Transport Salaried Staffs Association said a person claiming to have the virus spat and coughed at her and a colleague back in March.
British Transport Police (BTP) interviewed a 57-year-old man in the wake of Ms Mujina’s death, but announced on Friday they would not be taking any further action.
The force said there was no evidence of anyone spitting in a new statement released on Saturday.
It read: “We understand that the tragic death of Belly Mujinga has shocked many people and that the outcome of our investigation has raised questions.
“We want to be clear on why we decided not to take any further action – based on key witness statements and having reviewed the CCTV footage, there is no evidence of anyone spitting in this incident.
“Senior detectives are confident that this incident did not lead to Belly Mujinga contracting Covid-19. This is because the man in the CCTV footage who detectives interviewed as part of the investigation had a negative antibody test result for Covid-19 in the time after the incident, therefore showing that he had never had the illness.
“The man’s test did not relate to the BTP investigation – he was tested as part of his occupation and the test results were shared with us during the investigation
“Having reviewed all the evidence, senior detectives are satisfied that the incident didn’t lead to Belly Mujinga’s death.
“We have kept Belly’s family fully informed throughout the investigation and they will continue to be supported by specialist officers.
“Our thoughts remain with her family and we will continue to support them as they come to terms with the loss of their much-loved mother and wife.”
More than 285,000 people have now signed a change.org petition, seeking justice for Ms Mujinga's family, which was set up prior to the BTP's ruling.
Her husband Lusamba Gode Katalay said the family had been touched by the kindness and good wishes sent from all over the world.
He said: “It was terrible what happened to Belly.
“She was scared by what happened to her at work and then she was so terribly ill with the virus.
“Some days I wake up and I forget she’s not with us, and then we start grieving all over again, and we are just one family out of thousands in that place.
“Thank you for highlighting the problems that vulnerable people have, people like Belly who had a respiratory health problem and the need for PPE (personal protective equipment).
“We can’t change what happened to Belly, but we can try to ensure that her colleagues are better protected than she was.”
Following Friday's announcement, Mr Katalay said it had been a difficult day for the family.
He said: “We had never thought a prosecution was likely, but it was disappointing to get that news. We are not pursuing a prosecution. We are instead calling for her employer to take action to protect their workers.
“There are important things we need answers to. Her union, the TSSA, reported it to Her Majesty’s Railway Inspectorate (the health and safety body of the Office for Road and Rail), and that investigation into the safety of Belly’s workplace is still ongoing. Hopefully that will answer questions like why she was out working on the concourse at all given that she had a respiratory health issue.
“We also think that all key workers like Belly should be covered by the government’s NHS compensation scheme.
“The money can’t bring her back or take away our pain, but it would be recognition of the sacrifice that all key workers have made to help our country through this pandemic.”
Ms Mujinga’s employers, Southern Railway, said it followed all of the latest Government health advice, which it said has not advised that railway workers need to wear personal protective equipment.
“More recently, the travelling public has been advised to wear a face covering to help prevent spread. To support our people, we in turn, have now provided masks to our frontline workers, which we initiated at the point at which the official advice was updated,” a spokesman said.
