A woman found fatally stabbed in her home after a gas explosion has been described as a “profound force for good” who dedicated her life to supporting women.
Annabel Rook, 46, was found with stab wounds at a house in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, north London, just before 5am on Tuesday.
A 44-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The Metropolitan police said they believed the incident was “domestic-related”.
Rook was a respected charity worker who had helped refugees and women fleeing domestic violence for two decades. She co-founded the charity, MamaSuze, which supports refugee and migrant women with art and drama activities.
In a tribute on Tuesday, the organisation said it was devastated by Rook’s death, adding that she treated everyone with “warmth and kindness”.
The statement read: “Annabel was a profound force for good in the world, dedicating her working life to supporting women survivors.
“She started MamaSuze to bring art, creativity and joy to women who had arrived in the UK fleeing violence and human trafficking, treating everyone she met with warmth and kindness.”
John Martin, the artistic director of Pan Intercultural Arts, where Rook worked with young refugees for 16 years until 2022, described her as “a larger-than-life character” who joined the charity as a volunteer.
He said: “She came to learn the techniques that we had to work with young refugees, and soon we took her on as a full artist, as a facilitator, to run workshops for us with unaccompanied asylum seekers, especially minors, and with young refugees.
“She brought lots of happiness and joy, and I’ve had many, many of them [the refugees] who’ve heard the news get back to me last night and today to say how devastated they are.”
Reflecting on the news of her death, he added: “It was a massive loss for us, a massive shock when we heard what had happened.
Rook went on to form a pioneering new group under the charity’s umbrella, called the Amies project, which works with traumatised female survivors of trafficking through the use of the arts, drama, creative writing and design art.
The group went on to win national awards and helped to formchoirsthat sang all over the UK. The members ofAmies Freedom Choirare all survivors of modern slavery, trafficked into the UK from the Caribbean, Africa, eastern Europe or south-east Asia.
Martin said: “Annabel’s energy brought a lot to the women and gave them new hope. This was her speciality, I think – a sort of a boundless optimism, a boundless self-confidence, which she transferred on to other people.”
Six fire engines and 40 firefighters were called to the scene early on Tuesday. Two children, aged seven and nine, were also taken to hospital as a precaution after the incident but are not thought to have been inside the home when the explosion happened.