Josephine Smith: Two teens charged with manslaughter after 88-year-old dies in Romford fire

Josephine Smith (Met Police/PA)

(Picture: MET POLICE)

Two teenagers have been charged with manslaughter and arson after an 88-year-old woman died in a fire in east London.

Metropolitan Police officers were called to reports of a fire at a residential address in Queens Park Road, Romford on October 28, where Josephine Smith was pronounced dead at the scene.

Kai Cooper, 18, from Leatherhead, Surrey, and a 15-year-old boy from Southend, Essex, will appear in custody at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with manslaughter.

They are also charged with arson with recklessness as to whether life was endangered.

Both were also charged with assault by beating, relating to a separate offence on October 27 in High Road, Ilford.