A CHILD was heard counting down before a 5-year-old boy fell to his death from an allegedly faulty 15th floor window.
Aalim Ahmed was killed instantly when he landed on railings at the bottom of a block of flats in Plaistow, East London, shortly before 6am on May 16, 2024.
Floral tributes were left outside the block of flats Credit: Kevin Dunnett
Aalim fell from a fifteenth floor window, a court heard Credit: Kevin Dunnett
An inquest into the tragedy has since heard that grainy audio, from CCTV outside of the block of flats, picked up a child counting down in the moments before Aalim’s death.
A young child’s voice is twice heard counting down “3, 2, 1” and “a loud clang” follows some seconds later, Walthamstow Coroners’ Court was told.
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Detective Constable Joe Linton carried out a review of CCTV footage outside Jacobs House.
He said that in footage from the building, “you can hear another young child shouting ‘Aalim’”, who would appear to be the boy’s brother who was then three years old.
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Aalim’s parents had complained about the windows, a court was told Credit: Kevin Dunnett
A child can allegedly be heard counting down on CCTV footage from the building Credit: Kevin Dunnett
In the footage played to the court Aalim’s dad, who discovered him after the fall, was “topless and clearly distressed.”
DC Linton said “it is most likely from the footage available” that Aalim had “jumped out” of the flat “of his own accord without the presence of a third party.”
A post-mortem found Aalim died from “multiple injuries due to or as a consequence of trauma” from a “fall from height.”
Detective Inspector Jamie Humm, who investigated the incident, said there was “no evidence or suspicion he [Aalim] had been forced.”
He noted that: “The flat was well furnished and it was clearly a loving environment for a child.”
Humm told how soon after arriving at the scene he was satisfied “there was no evidence of a crime not that I thought there would be.”
Aalim’s dad, Makail Ahmed, and his mum, Sahra Osman, described their son’s sad death as “preventable” and blamed Newham Council.
Sahra told the court she was “scared” and “horrified” when the local authority put them in the top-floor flat, which needed repairs.
She had lodged several complaints about the safety of the flat, she claims.
Sahra said she had called the council to complain and begged them to help.
She told the inquest “the window was wide open, it would not lock, it was hanging.”
Sahra stressed it was a safety issue for her children, but said the council did not treat it as “an emergency.”
Despite repairs being carried out and engineers having been to look at the work, Sahra said she felt the flat was still not safe and there were “open windows.”
All the windows were closed before the family went to bed, the inquest heard.
It is still not known how the child would have got to the window, the court heard.
Assistant coroner Ian Wade, who described the audio recording as “poignant”, said: “Aalim at his tender age and with his autism could not have known what could have happened.
“It seems to me that he would not have meant to have deliberately taken the stance to have harmed himself.”
Robert O’Sullivan, of the London Ambulance Service, recalled that “a number of colleagues were visibly shocked” after finding the boy.
In his statement, he recalled: “There was an adult male shouting ‘I have told them about the window’.”
The right-hand kitchen window was open when emergency crews arrived on the tragic scene.
Sergeant Christopher Diment, who was among the officers who attended the scene, said Aalim’s dad was “clearly distraught, pacing around and shouting”, and was “overcome with grief.”
When they went into the flat Makail was saying something about the state of the windows, he told the court.
Sahra denied any allegation that she may have “forced” the window open to cope in hot weather.
Aalim’s family had worked with an occupational therapist to help support his needs.
His teacher Esme Johns said the boy had to be reminded not to do or touch something because he “lacked danger awareness.”
She added: “He would say sorry, but found it difficult to understand.”
The hearing continues.
