‘Heavy-handed’ police arrest grieving man after wife dies of natural causes

Neighbours of a midwife who died at her east London home have accused police of being ‘over-the-top’ after mistakenly arresting her grieving husband.

Lydia Owinde, 72, was found dead at the couple’s house in Boulton Road, Dagenham, on Sunday.

Her 75-year-old husband, a retired mathematics professor, was arrested at the house on suspicion of murder but later released after it was determined Mrs Owinde had died of natural causes.

Officers said they initially arrested him because of the way Mrs Owinde’s body was found and how he had presented himself to police.

Locals said the churchgoing academic ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’ and that they were ‘outraged’ that he was handcuffed before being taken away by officers.

A neighbour who has known the couple for decades told Metro: ‘They are a lovely couple and friends of mine.

‘To think that he would hurt Lydia is ridiculous. They were very much a loving couple who both had good careers and got on so well.

‘He wouldn’t hurt a fly and had just lost his wife, so being arrested would have been so traumatic for him.

‘Obviously, now he has been cleared, but I think the police were heavy-handed. They have to do their job, but to arrest him like that was over the top.’

Another neighbour said: ‘He is a very smart guy, he was a maths professor. He lived in the States for a few years, working at a college over there.

‘She was absolutely lovely, always smart and cheerful. They were both always on the go, great people. The way the police marched him out was a disgrace. They should have got their facts straight first.’

The couple, originally from Nigeria, had lived at the house on Boulton Road for decades.

Mrs Owinde had worked beyond retirement age at Whipps Cross Hospital, where she was a respected midwife.

She had only stopped working in May due to ill health, her colleagues said.

‘They were beacons in the community’

Grifty Anderson and Angelina Boakye-Ansah both worked with her.

Grifty told Metro: ‘Lydia, or auntie as we called her, was a joy to behold. She was such a positive person, always looking after others. She helped everyone on the team.

‘We are heartbroken. She has delivered thousands of babies and spread such joy. She was one in a million.’

Angelina said: ‘She helped the young staff, and with her experience, she was so brilliant to work with.

She always looked smart, she liked to look good, and had a radiant smile. Her husband is also lovely, such a nice man. We are devastated for him.

‘We at the hospital will also feel this loss so much. We had been trying to call her to see how she was getting on, then we got the news she died. I can’t believe it.’

Mrs Owinde’s partner is being treated in hospital for unknown reasons and has not returned home since the incident.

A friend who lives on the same street as the couple told Metro: ‘They were the loveliest couple. When my partner passed away a few years back, Lydia came to the funeral.

‘She helped me get through it with her positive outlook, and she was a great listener. They were such a close couple, always on the go. Both good at their jobs; he was a professor who had worked in the US.

‘They went to church and were always helping people. They were beacons in the community. I’m so sorry for him now having to face life without her. They were inseparable.’

Police initially put out a public statement saying there had been an arrest of a man, 75. They later de-arrested him and said the death was due to natural causes.

Colleagues said Mrs Owinde had been ‘frail and unwell’ despite working until recently.

A police statement said: ‘On Sunday, 14 June officers attended an address on Boulton Road, Dagenham following concerns raised for the welfare of a woman at the address.

‘She was sadly pronounced dead at the scene. A man, aged in his 70s, was arrested after officers took advice from specialist detectives. This took into account the circumstances in which the woman’s body was found, as well as the way the man presented to officers.

‘He was taken to hospital in order for his welfare to be assessed by medical staff. He was not taken into police custody.

‘Following the post-mortem examination, the man was immediately de-arrested.’