The Crown Prosecution Service has been asked to review evidence into the coronavirus- related death of London railway worker Belly Mujinga , British Transport Police said on Friday.
On 21 March Mrs Mujinga was reportedly spat on at work by a man who claimed to have coronavirus.
She died in April, a few weeks after the incident at London’s Victoria station, leaving behind a widower and an 11-year-old daughter.
British Transport Police interviewed a 57-year-old man but said the incident widely reported as the man allegedly spitting at Ms Mujinga - did not lead to the worker’s death and decided not to refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service.
On Friday they issued a new statement saying they had requested an independent review by the Crown Prosecution Service in “recognition of the wider public interest.”
BTP said it understood the depth of feeling over the case and that there were further questions over how it was decided there was insufficient proof of a crime to justify a prosecution.
“We can assure the public that we have comprehensively reviewed all the available evidence and have not identified any offences or behaviour that meets the threshold for prosecution,” said the statement.
More than a million people have signed a petition calling for ‘justice’ for Mujinga.
The petition seeks justice for the family of Ms Mujinga, whose trade union the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) has received messages of support from across the UK and from countries including the US and Germany.
Ms Mujinga’s husband Lusamba thanked those who have signed the petition, saying the family had been on a ‘rollercoaster of emotions’.
The public reaction to the case being closed took the family by surprise, he said, adding it had come amid anger over the killing of George Floyd in the US.
He said: ‘On Wednesday, thousands of people protested in London to cry it loud that black lives matter. Black lives do matter. Belly’s life mattered. It mattered to me, to our daughter, our friends and family, to Belly’s colleagues, and now it matters to many thousands of you out there.”
He added, “we want justice for Belly, Belly didn’t lie about being assaulted. Belly and her colleague were confronted and intimidated as frontline workers and their concerns and their fears were ignored. Wwe continue to have questions about the police investigation.”
