London flat safeguards questioned after boy's fatal fall

An inquest into the death of a five-year-old autistic boy, Aalim Ahmed, who fell from a 15th-floor kitchen window in a Newham council property in Plaistow, east London, has heard that additional safety measures could have been implemented. The incident occurred on May 16, 2024.

The family had a history of complaints regarding the temporary social housing flat and had requested to be relocated. On the afternoon of the incident, Newham council property manager Nnenna Muoma visited the family and noted in a subsequent message that the kitchen window, from which the child fell, was functional but could be operated by a child. She stated that more restricted features could have been installed to reduce the risk.

Muoma testified that while she had seen other households with children with special needs using different safety gadgets, she was not an expert and was unaware that the existing window restrictors could be locked. She was able to open the window on her second attempt during her visit, though she could not recall the exact method used.

Aalim's parents, Makail Ahmed and Sahra Osman, have described their son's death as preventable and have blamed Newham council for failing to act on their repeated safety concerns. A postmortem examination revealed that Aalim died from multiple injuries sustained in the fall. Osman had previously expressed her fear and horror at being placed in the top-floor flat, which required repairs, given her son's lack of a sense of danger.