A mother had repeatedly warned Leeds City Council about unsafe windows in her seventh-floor flat before her one-year-old son fell to his death, an inquest has heard. Exodus Eyob climbed onto a bed under a window and fell from the high-rise block in Saville Green, Leeds, in July 2022.
His mother, Birikti Berihew, told the hearing that despite the window having a restrictor, it could be easily pushed open. She had complained many times to the council and asked for the windows to be made safer. The inquest heard that on 2 July, Ms Berihew's daughter Reem Semere, then 19, had woken and left her bedroom, closing the door behind her. She said the restrictor was not engaged and the window was slightly open due to the hot night.
After a few minutes, Reem could not find Exodus and began searching the flat. They discovered the window in Reem's bedroom was 'more open than it had been'. When Ms Berihew looked out, she saw Exodus on the ground and started screaming. The inquest heard that since moving into the flat in 2010, Ms Berihew had complained about the windows but felt her concerns were ignored.
She said a council workman visited in November 2020 and she asked for a secondary restrictor, but was told it was not possible because the request had not been raised. A neighbour had a secondary restrictor, so she contacted the authority again. Council housing officer Zaheer Akhtar told the inquest he could not recall Ms Berihew asking for additional restrictors, but said he would have acted if she had.
Exodus suffered multiple fractures and a head injury and was pronounced dead at Leeds General Infirmary. The family's solicitors, Ison Harrison, said Ms Berihew had been concerned about a child falling after the death of six-year-old Liam Shackleton, who fell from a neighbouring tower block in 2011. Robert Goor, deputy head of property management at Leeds City Council, said an inspection after Exodus's death found 'no defects with that window system'. He added that cable locks were not standard policy but had been offered as a 'one-off campaign' after Liam's death.
