Two more teenagers who were in the care of Barnet Council have died since the death of 18-year-old Nonita Grabovskyte – prompting urgent questions over whether vital lessons were delayed.
Both were 18-year-old care leavers and died in December 2024 and January 2025 – just over a year after Nonita took her own life on 28 December 2023, the north London council said.
Their names have not yet been released while families are being informed, but confirmation of the deaths means three care-experienced young people connected to Barnet have now died in the space of 13 months.
It raises serious concerns about what the council learned from Nonita’s case and whether earlier action to publish and implement changes could have prevented further loss of life.
Nonita’s death – investigated in the Sky News documentary Unseen: A Girl Called Nonita – featured critical failings in the transition between children’s and adult services.
The coroner later described an “absence of coordinated transition” during the most vulnerable moment in her life.
Despite that, Sky News has learned that a joint learning review into the deaths of Nonita and the second young person, known only as Young Person E, was completed in February.
But publication was delayed for almost a year, until after the conclusion of Nonita’s inquest in October.
The inquest process is under way for the most recent death – Young Person R – with a review expected to be launched, a council spokesperson said.
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