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Ella Kissi-Debrah died in February 2013 after numerous seizures had seen her hospitalised almost 30 times in the previous three years. In a landmark ruling, assistant coroner Philip Barlow
yesterday said "excessive air pollution" had contributed to Ella's death. Giving the medical cause of death Mr Barlow said: "I intend to record 1a) acute respiratory
failure, 1b) severe asthma, 1c) air pollution exposure." He warned that London has still not met its anti-pollution targets. The verdict comes after a seven-year battle by Ella's
mother Rosamund, a former teacher. She said: "This was about my daughter getting air pollution on the death certificate. "We got the justice for her which is so deserved. But
it's also about other children still, as we walk around our city of high levels of air pollution." Rosamund now wants a Clean Air Act, already dubbed Ella's Law. She added:
"Her legacy would be for governments around the world to take this matter seriously." Ella was born healthy but developed a rare form of asthma while living in Catford, south
London - 30 yards from the South Circular Road, one of the city's busiest highways. The first inquest in 2014 ruled she died of acute respiratory failure caused by severe asthma. But
this was quashed after further evidence into the risks of air pollution was revealed in a 2018 report. After a two-week inquest at Southwark Coroners Court, Mr Barlow said: "Air
pollution was a significant contributory factor to both the induction and exacerbations of her asthma. "The principal source of her exposure was traffic emissions." Sarah
Woolnough, chief executive of Asthma UK and the British Lung Foundation, said the verdict "sets the precedent for a seismic shift". The British Safety Council urged the Government
to put into UK law the World Health Organisation's exposure limits. A government spokesman said: "We are delivering a £3.8billion plan to clean up transport and tackle nitrogen
dioxide pollution and going further in protecting communities from air pollution, particularly PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) which we know is particularly harmful to health."