A vulnerable mother in east London reportedly concealed her adult daughter's decaying remains in their house because she was unable to accept her death. In November of last year, the mother of the 51-year-old disabled woman found her "heavily decomposed" body in Waltham Forest, pushing her around a local market in a wheelchair while wearing a wig.A recently-published Safeguarding Adults Review (SAR) found there had been missed opportunities to help the reclusive mother, who was a full-time carer, and daughter before the tragedy unfolded, Daily Dazzling Dawn understand.

It heard how multiple safeguarding visits were made to the L&Q property between August and October after neighbours raised concerns about the “putrid” smell and the mother’s ability to cope with caring for her daughter, who had several “painful and life-limiting conditions”.At this time, the daughter had not been seen by neighbours for around six months and the mother - given the pseudonym ‘Janet’ by the panel - rebuffed offers of help.

When welfare officials visited in November, Janet told them that her daughter was bathing, so they couldn’t see her, before saying she had a hospital appointment.

But they then followed her after realising the daughter was not in the property, and suspecting that she had a doll rather than her daughter in the wheelchair.

But to their horror it turned out to be her daughter’s body, which was “just bones”, the panel heard.

Police said it was likely she had been dead “for a long time”, and that cause of death could not be established due to the condition of the body.

When asked by a psychiatrist after the grim discovery why she had not given her daughter a proper funeral and burial, she replied that she “just couldn’t part with her” and that she didn’t know it was a crime not to report the death.

The report found how earlier safeguarding concerns were raised in 2013-14, including when the pair became homeless, which were not “robust” enough.Officials did not have enough “curiosity” about how the pair ended up homeless, and relied on the mother’s assessment of her daughter’s needs, rather than speaking directly to her, the report found.

This was despite a housing official raising concerns that she was “under her mother’s control”, and would benefit from being separated from her.

This meant a “rare opportunity” to assess their needs and capabilities was missed, the report found.

“The whole system responded to the horror of this case with a combination of revulsion and natural enquiry and concern as to how this came about,” it added.A funeral was later held for the deceased 51-year-old, while her mother has received mental health care.