A Dutch local council and a housing corporation should each be fined €60,000 for their role in the death of a student who was electrocuted while taking a shower, the public prosecution department said on Friday.

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 earlier this week.

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.

Camelot, a company which specialises in letting vacant properties, and the municipal authority in Boxtel both face charges of manslaughter and should be fined €60,000 each, the public prosecution department said on Friday. In addition, Camelot’s technical department faces a fine of €30,000 for its failures.

According to the defence, the council and housing corporation should be found not guilty. Defence lawyers argue that the girl’s family refused to sanction a post mortem examination and the cause of death has not been conclusively established.