Khabi Abrey Westcliff fire death: Everything in first week of inquest

Essex Coroner's Court is overseeing the inquest into the death of Khabi Abrey on May 7, 2016.

The 30-year-old mum to be died in a fire started by paranoid schizophrenic Lillo Troisi.

Here is a rundown of what has been heard this week.

Killer's sister: 'He clearly needed help'

The sister of a convicted killer told an inquest he clearly needed help as he descended into a “skeletal” state before starting a fatal fire.

The inquest into Miss Abrey's death began four years after her death on May 7, 2016.

The mum-to-be and her unborn child died from smoke inhalation after Lillo Troisi, then 48, started a fire on the ninth floor of the Grampian flats, in Salisbury Avenue.

Troisi was charged with murder, but prosecutors accepted a guilty plea to manslaughter and arson.

Psychologists found that Troisi was “acutely psychotic” at the time and had not been taking his medication for 18 months.

He was locked up indefinitely in a psychiatric hospital in 2018.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Troisi’s sister Rosa Garner shared how Troisi had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia at the age of 19.

The inquest heard that Troisi was “essentially untreated”.

Mr Garner said the family began to notice changes in Troisi, saying that they knew something “just wasn’t right”.

She said Troisi had lost around six stone in a year, and would often pace around talking to himself, and when confronted, would “go into complete denial”.

She said: “He was like a skeleton. He stopped engaging with the family. My mum would feed him, wash his clothes and go around to his flat once a week.

“Once that stopped, we noticed. He was losing weight and shaved his hair off.

“If you observed my brother for any period of time at all, just looking at him - the GP saw him and said there’s nothing wrong with him - I just couldn’t as he made you feel frightened just by looking at him.”

She added: “I couldn’t understand that anyone would look at him and think he was, for want of a better word, normal.”

Before moving to Southend at the beginning of 2015, she said Troisi had been living a “nearly normal” life in north London and was given a monthly injected dose of anti-psychotic medication.

However, she said Troisi could not access this once moving to Westcliff.

She said: “He would happily go along for his monthly injection.

“He had been symptom-free since 2010 and lived a near-normal life. He was very close to my mum, he would see her once or twice a week.

“My parents needed to move as mum had become quite infirm.

“It seemed the most sensible thing to do as we were all in Southend.”

The damage to the flat

Ms Garner said Troisi had registered with a GP close to him in Westcliff after moving, but the GP couldn’t give him the injections, instead prescribing tablets for him to take.

She said: “He said ‘I told him I wanted an injection and they wouldn’t do it’.

“I asked where he could get it injected. I was told there wasn’t a list and was told to ring around a few GPs and see if they could do it.

“I thought it was absurd.”

Garage customers joked about killer before fatal fire

Petrol station customers joked about Troisi “doing something with that petrol” before he started the fatal flat fire, the inquest heard.

The hearing heard how Lillo Troisi visited a petrol station in Rayleigh half an hour before starting the fire.

Troisi had been living underneath the Abrey family in the Gramplin flats in the Balmoral estate.

Troisi, who was diagnosed as psychotic, was caught on ANPR cameras driving to the Sainsbury’s store on the Rayleigh Weir junction of the A127 at 10.26pm on May 7 to fill up a container of fuel.

The remains of a container along with a small amount of fuel was found near the Abrey’s flat after the fire, which happened at around 10.55pm.

In a witness statement read to the court by Area Coroner Sean Horstead, a member of staff said Troisi made her and her colleague feel “very uncomfortable”.

She said: “He entered the shop and I remember he looked suspicious and picked up a green petrol can and he said ‘do I have to pay for this now?’.

“I said no you can pay for it with you petrol.

“I saw him at the pump and walked back in and said ‘can I change it?’ and I said yes. He replaced the green with a black one.

“Another two customers commented on his strange behaviour.”

The woman said the two customers who walked by Troisi claimed he was “shouting and swearing”.

Khabi Abrey

She continued: “One of the males got to us and said ‘I hope he doesn’t do anything with that petrol’.

“I just laughed as a thought he was loopy.

“He made both me and my colleague feel very uncomfortable and stared at both of us in the eyes.

“I asked if he had a Nectar card and he snapped ‘no’. I gave him his change and he left and the truck quickly sped off.”

The woman said she later saw reports of the arson and was left “shocked”.

Troisi's family letter 'not read by mental health team'

A letter from Troisi’s family begging for help before he started the fatal fire was not read during his mental health assessment, the inquest heard.

Rasak Obe, part of the first response team at the Essex Partnership Trust, insisted he had “no recollection” of a letter when pressed by the coroner.

Lill Troisi was convicted of manslaughter for starting a fire in Grampian flats in Sailsbury Avenue, Westcliff, on May 7, 2016 which killed Khabi Abrey, 30. and her unborn child.

Troisi was found to be “acutely psychotic” and hadn’t taken medication for 18 months.

However, in April that year a referral was made by Troisi’s GP to the mental health trust, asking if they could assess him.

Thee court heard that a letter from Troisi’s sister, Rosa Garner, detailing the family’s concerns was included in the referral.

However, Mr Obe said he “couldn’t recall” seeing the letter when asked by Area Coroner Sean Horstead why it wasn’t read.

Khabi Abrey and her husband Stuart

Coroner Horstead said: “I will repeat my question as I need to get an answer. It’s an important issue as I’m sure you appreciate.

“You have in your evidence that you didn’t read Ms Garner’s letter. My question is why you didn’t try to locate it and then read it.”

Mr Obe replied: “I didn’t see any letter so really that’s the reason. I have no recollection of a letter from the family.”

Coroner Horstead continued to ask Mr Obe the same question but received the same response.

Ms Garner previously told the inquest her brother, saying he couldn’t access a monthly injected medication when moving to Southend at the start of 2015.

Coroner Horstead said the letter contained concerns from Troisi’s family, such as him crashing his car, losing seven stone and talking to himself.

When asked if the team’s risk assessment could have benefitted from knowing this information, Mr Obe said: “It’s possible”.

Coroner Horstead asked a final time: “My question is, why did you not see the letter?”

Mr Obe replied: “I don’t have the answer to that.”

The inquest continues.