An inquest into the death of a five-year-old boy who fell from a 15th-floor window in Plaistow, east London, has heard that more measures could have been taken to make the flat safer. Aalim Ahmed, who was autistic, died when he fell from a kitchen window at Jacobs House on 16 May 2024. His father, Makail Ahmed, rushed from the top-floor temporary social housing flat and discovered his body shortly before 6am.
Family Had Repeatedly Asked to Be Moved
The court heard that the family had a long history of complaints about the council accommodation and had asked to be moved. Aalim's mother, Sahra Osman, told the court she was “scared” and “horrified” when the council put them in the top-floor flat, which needed repairs, because her son had “no sense of danger”. She felt the property was not suitable for her young family, which also included a newborn girl, but felt obliged to take it or risk homelessness.
On the day Aalim died, Osman was sitting on a bed with her arms wrapped around herself when Newham council property manager Nnenna Muoma saw her. One of the first things Osman told her was: “I asked to be moved and nobody listened to me.”
Property Manager’s Observations and Admission
Muoma told the court that after visiting the Ahmed family on the afternoon he died, she thought “more restricted features could have been installed”. In a note to the council, she wrote: “Following the horrible incident and fatality, I visited the family yesterday. The kitchen window from where the child fell off is functional but can be operated by a child, hence the incident. There is [a] restricted feature to allow a limited opening. More restricted features could have been installed to reduce this risk.”
Muoma said: “That was my personal thought. I have seen other households with children with special needs with different gadgets which can be done to make it safer.” She added that she was not an expert in the area and did not know the window restrictors in place could be locked.
Postmortem and Council Response
A postmortem examination found Aalim died from “multiple injuries due to or as a consequence of trauma” from a “fall from height”. Makail Ahmed and Sahra Osman have described their son’s death as “preventable” and blamed Newham council, after claims safety concerns about the flat were reported on multiple occasions.
Muoma told the court that when she visited the flat, she tried the window twice and was able to open it on the second attempt, but could not remember exactly how she did it. She said she may have pressed a button to help open it but did not give details about the restrictor or the position of the handle. She also took a photograph of the open position to show her manager how far it could open. Newham council said it would be unable to comment until after the inquest concluded. The hearing continues.
