Boy, five, died after jumping from ‘insecure’ window in Newham tower block, coroner finds

A five-year-old autistic boy died from multiple traumatic injuries after jumping from an “insecure” window in temporary accommodation provided by Newham council, a coroner has found.

Aalim Ahmed died on 16 May 2026 after falling from the window of Flat 61 on 15th floor of Jacobs House on New City Road in Newham, east London.

A narrative conclusion to an inquest into his death, which followed an inquest hearing at East London Coroner’s Court on 17 August, has now been published, with coroner Ian Wade deciding not to issue a prevention of future deaths (PFD) report.

PFD reports are formal notices sent by coroners to organisations when they find dangerous situations or systematic failures in order to highlight risks that could cause future deaths

Wade’s conclusion described Ahmed as an “active five year old boy who suffered from a diagnosed condition of autism such as to render him incapable of making reliable judgements about his personal safety and abilities”.

He said that in the early hours of 16 May 2024, Ahmed awoke and went from his bedroom to the kitchen, climbed on a chair and went onto the window sill of “an insecure double tilt and turn window”.

“He opened the window and in the naive belief that he could fly or alternatively would come to no harm he leapt from the open window, plummeted to the ground, was impaled on a metal fence and suffered catastrophic trauma to his upper torso from which he died at the scene,” wrote Wade.

The cause of death was listed as “Multiple Injuries” and “Trauma (fall from height)”.

Last August, the National Child Mortality Database, an NHS-funded body, urged landlords to prioritise window repairs reported by residents with children.

It found that, between April 2019 and May 2025, 16 young children had died after falls from windows or balconies, with 11 of these incidents happening in social housing and one in temporary accommodation.