A landlord and a municipal authority are appearing in court accused of manslaughter in the case of a 20-year-old woman who died when she was electrocuted in the shower.

The house in Boxtel, North Brabant, where Janneke van Gaal died in January 2013 had frequent problems with the electricity supply and was described as ‘uninhabitable’ by a council official in an internal email, the district court in Den Bosch was told.

The property on Koevoortsweg had previously been used as a cannabis farm, but both the landlord, Camelot, and the local authority, which owned the building, claimed to be unaware of the fact.

One of Van Gaal’s housemates, Akash Ragoenath, told the AD on the eve of the court hearing that he had experienced electric shocks in the shower a few weeks before the woman’s death. ‘I went into the shower with a sleepy head, turned on the tap and got two or three jolts,’ he said.

Exposed wiring

The court was told there was exposed wiring all over the house and three of the six circuits were unearthed. One official at the council commented in an internal mail before Van Gaal moved in: ‘Really, it’s uninhabitable.’

Giving evidence, Ragoenath said he had reported the problems to Camelot, who sent a repairman out to fix the wiring. The court was told the repairman was not a certified electrician.

Camelot, a company which specialises in letting vacant properties, and the municipal authority in Boxtel both face charges of manslaughter. The hearing is expected to last two days.