Police back at 'suicide pact' flats

A private ambulance leaves Norman Court flats in Putney, where the bodies of two women were found
12 April 2012

Police have returned to a block of flats where two women died in a suspected copycat double suicide, following reports of chemical fumes in the area.

Concerned residents of the building in Putney, south-west London, called the police just before 3pm on Sunday afternoon reporting a chemical smell.

Officers are currently at the scene investigating the reports, a Scotland Yard spokesman said.

On Saturday, it emerged that one of the dead women had contacted police to complain she was being harassed.

The woman, who has not been named, fled to the Putney flat owned by a not-for-profit trust that helps vulnerable women.

She and another woman - both reported to have been prostitutes - apparently gassed themselves after sealing doors and windows at the property.

Neighbours said one of the women appeared scared and was reluctant to speak to people as she kept her curtains drawn night and day.

One said she moved to the affordable bedsit about five months ago from Roehampton to "escape someone" and because of people taking drugs near her home.

Officials at the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) have launched an investigation into the reaction of police to her complaints.

The Met said that they had received a letter warning of the suicides. The letter was acted on by the director of professional standards, a spokesman said.

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