A toddler escaped with just a broken jaw after falling from an open window on the third floor of an apartment block (Ed: no, not in New York - I think that's what they call 'flats' now...).
The 22-month-old boy landed on a ledge above a shop in Amhurst Road in Hackney, where he was seen crawling by passers-by who rescued him using a ladder.
And who is at fault for this? Why, clearly, the architect of the building!
His grandmother said his mother had left him on his own as she got ready to go out. She added:
“The windows open out wide and the sill is low enough for a baby to climb up on. The whole place is unsafe.”
Haven’t you ever heard of child-proof window locks and
not leaving babies alone in rooms without these..?
"Haven’t you ever heard of child-proof window locks and not leaving babies alone in rooms without these..?" ..
ReplyDeleteNay .. don't be daft,our Julia..
Its far easier & potentially has greater "earning" power to blame anyone & everyone else and to claim "compo" ..
there you go again, expecting adults to take responsibility for their actions AND in Hackney. WHERE WAS THE CHILD"S SOCIAL WORKER FFS?
ReplyDeleteHmmm well...the more things change the more they stay the same. My little brother did exactly the same thing in our 2nd floor flat 30+ years when our mam nipped out across the road to the shop. She learned the hard way with her 3rd child that babies can and do climb. Me and the next ( a brother) had never done anything like it so we reckon she just got lulled into a false sense of security heh.
ReplyDeleteThat little bugger had rampant ADHD wayyy before it was ever invented and only the gods know how either he or our mam survived his childhood.
So maybe this woman was just inexperienced, stupid or both but I do hope she learns by it and takes responsibility. There's nothing in the story to indicate she blames anyone else. One question though...what was the grandmother's role here ? ...besides helping the press to extend her daughter's public crucifixion.
Hackney eh? whats the betting that the Grandmother is barely in her 30s
ReplyDeleteTerrible stereotyping I know but still...I`d like to know.
I'd just like to add how much it pisses me right off when grown adults refer to toddlers that almost TWO WHOLE FRICKIN' YEARS OF AGE as "babies" of "22 months".
ReplyDeleteOr ANY frickin' amount of months just over or just under the measure of an entire year.
/rant off
I was looking for something else and happened to come across what are likely to be the flats in the report, or very similar to them.
ReplyDeleteIf this is the case, the photo suggests that Downs Court is dilapidated now, which is a pity because at one time it was an elegant interpretation of art deco dwellings in the continental style.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/69711221@N04/6765029839/in/photostream/
The idea - so long ago it seems - was to try to copy the best of the French, Italian and Spanish apartments where people live above the shops which provide their basic needs; everyone dashing about to buy boulangerie, two perfect lamb chops or a fish, a chapeau, having coffee in the cafe, something from the tabac, then over to the park for a game of boules or pentanque.
Unfortunately it didn't work out like that. Perhaps our light isn't right.
We had metal gratings screwed into the window frames. They could be opened, of course, in case of fire, but not by a toddler. They came out when my sister and I were old enough that, if we fell out of a window, it would be our own fault.
ReplyDeleteYet anoth case of someone who should be responsible for a much younger child, is negligent and incapable and yet blames someone else. Why isn't this stupid woman now suing the local church because God buolt that piece of land on a slope, together with the architect for failing to take this into consideration and the builder for failing to flatten everything out so that no matter what floor you leave a window open, a chilkd will fall only 2 feet onto a bed of swans feathers softened by angels kisses? Yet another black mark on the open gene pool.
ReplyDelete"WHERE WAS THE CHILD"S SOCIAL WORKER FFS?"
ReplyDelete:D
"So maybe this woman was just inexperienced, stupid or both but I do hope she learns by it and takes responsibility. "
I'd hope so too.
"Unfortunately it didn't work out like that. Perhaps our light isn't right."
Heh! Yeah, maybe.... ;)
" They came out when my sister and I were old enough that, if we fell out of a window, it would be our own fault."
Back in the days before 24/7 media and compensation..?
XX Anonymous David Gillies said...
ReplyDeleteThey came out when my sister and I were old enough that, if we fell out of a window, it would be our own fault.XX
Are you having problems with the rules of this modern life game thingy?
Now repeat after me, and REMEMBER it(!); "It is never my fault! There is ALWAYS some one with a big wallet to lay the blame on!"
Write that out 5,000 times!
The grandmother was speaking English as a second language and just felt window lock things may have helped- she was also in shock- obviously. She is not 30. The mother clearly had no idea her son could get out the window, and he had not shown any ability to do so, though very active, in the past. There is no social worker, because the mother is a good mother! This is just very unfair slander really, of which none of you know anything. If you're sure your child can't do something before, you tend not to worry about it. All you perfect people out there (are liars), good luck, but stick to slagging people and things you know about off would be a better idea in future. Like the poor woman hasn't had a bad enough time! Imbeciles.
ReplyDeleteXX The grandmother was speaking English as a second language XX
ReplyDeleteAHA! there you have it in one!
Foriegn scum throw their bastards out of the window to gain attention, and possibly more dole.
"The mother clearly had no idea her son could get out the window..."
ReplyDeleteReally? Yet granny knew. Didn't she see fit to mention it to her?