Checks After Boy Falls Out Of Window

A toddler's had a lucky escape after falling 12ft out of a council flat window in Gosport, landing in a wheelbarrow.

The boy managed to undo a window latch at the flat in Barclay House.

His mum had apparently told the council about problems with the lock.

The Council says it's carried out investigations of this incident and can report that on 16th February 2012 a 3 year old fell 3 metres from the 1st floor window of the family unit in Barclay House homeless hostel. 

The father said he had left the child in the lounge unsupervised while he took rubbish outside down the fire escape. His mother was changing the nappy of their youngest child at the time. They then heard a noise, which it seems was the sound of the child landing in a wheelbarrow down below their window, followed by the sound of him crying. They went and investigated and the child was apparently already on the fire escape on his way back up. They surmised afterwards that the child must have removed the restraining screw from the window himself. 

Councillor Mark Hook, Leader of the Council said: "This is a nightmare for any parent – a moment’s inattention and an active toddler opens a window and falls, fortunately their son didn’t fall from a great height and he got away with only superficial injuries, we are sure that his parents are grateful for that and we are pleased that it had a happy outcome for the family.

The Barclay House hostel is beyond its useful life and as such does not have the most up to date facilities, that is why the Council is investing £1.2m in a state of the art new family centre to be opened in the summer.     

Residents are aware of the limitations of the facilities Barclay House hostel.

It is still a bit of a puzzle how the boy, not only to have by-passed the window lock that his father had fixed himself, but also managed to open the window latch himself – he’s clearly a bright, capable young boy – all the more reason for parents to be careful when leaving youngsters unattended.

It is never a good idea for residents of Barclay House to try DIY themselves – the Council has experienced operatives on hand to fix such problems in a professional and secure way. 

The incident has been reported to the Health & Safety Executive, as we were required to do. We are not anticipating an investigation at this stage.”