Bereaved mum urges action to stop tower block falls

Luanda Peddie remembers the time her satellite shattered.

In 2011, her 14-year-old lad Jovanni fell to his decease from the sixth level of their household location successful the Missenden artifact of London's Aylesbury Estate.

"It's a spot of horror, it's a spot of hell, it's a spot of trauma," wellness idiosyncratic Luanda says, describing the devastating representation she's struggled to erase from her mind.

Now she is calling connected councils and landlords to instrumentality action, arsenic they are "failing guiltless children whose lives are astatine hazard each azygous day".

Her dependable breaks arsenic she recalls the infinitesimal she realised thing was wrong.

"I went into his bedroom," she says, "and I was like, 'Oh, where's Jovanni?' And past I asked his dad, who was successful the bath astatine the time, 'Where's Jovanni?' But I noticed that the model was wide open.

"I past went implicit to the window, and, yeah, I saw him, you know, astatine the bottommost of the window, I couldn't judge it, and that's erstwhile conscionable each hellhole broke loose. Really, was conscionable panic. It was hysteria. I conscionable couldn't judge what I was seeing," Luanda recalls, her dependable trembling with emotion.

Jovanni was a bright, intelligent lad who dreamed of becoming an architect.

His mother's determination to talk astir the calamity for the archetypal clip to the BBC, comes successful the aftermath of 2 caller incidents successful London. She has asked for her look not to beryllium shown to support her family's privacy.

Jovanni was recovered lying connected a second-floor balcony beneath.

Medics arrived rapidly but helium died soon aft successful hospital.

The post-mortem introspection revealed Jovanni died from aggregate injuries caused by the fall.

"To perceive that it's inactive happening to this time is conscionable appalling and it's devastating," Luanda said.

"It's heartbreaking to deliberation that lessons haven't been learned by section authorities, and much families are experiencing the aforesaid nightmare we went through."

On 16 May, five-year-old Aalim Ahmed fell from his 15th-storey room model successful Plaistow, eastbound London and connected 24 May, 12-year-old Renoy Ellis died aft falling from an precocious level of a level successful Kennington, south-east London - 2 tragedies successful the abstraction of a fewer days successful the capital.

"Each caller incidental feels similar a punch to the gut. It's not conscionable sadness anymore - it's a substance of grief, anger, and frustration," she adds.

"I consciousness compelled to talk out, to combat for change, due to the fact that I can't carnivore the thought of different household going done what we did."

According to the ONS data, 66 radical aged 19 oregon under, similar Jovanni, died aft falling from buildings crossed England and Wales betwixt 2013 and 2022 - the astir caller information available.

Of those, 24 were successful London alone.

Despite regeneration projects, newer gathering regulations and operation methods, the full fig of deaths per twelvemonth successful England and Wales, and wrong London person remained accordant during this period.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) said London has a precise ample fig of precocious rises thereby expanding the radical falling from a height.

It has besides said immoderate of the older buildings "do not comply with existent standards and regulations astir safety" and called connected this contented to beryllium dealt with arsenic a priority.

In an effort to find immoderate much item down the statistics, the BBC London probe squad analysed section papers dating backmost to 2010 and recovered astatine slightest 20 cases wherever young radical died aft falling from precocious emergence societal lodging successful London.

Examples include:

• In October 2019, an 18-month-old fell implicit 100ft (30 metres) from a operation artifact successful Tottenham, contempt complaints astir faulty latches
• A three-year-old lad died connected his day aft falling from the 4th level of his gathering successful Harrow successful November 2019
• In June 2016, a severely autistic seven-year-old miss fell from the 11th level of her operation artifact successful Clerkenwell
• Also successful 2016, a teenage lad and miss died aft falling from a operation artifact successful Deptford, eastbound London during a party.

Jovanni lived connected the Aylesbury Estate successful Southwark, a analyzable completed successful 1977 that exemplified some the ambitions and challenges of London's post-war societal lodging boom.

At its peak, it housed up to 11,000 radical successful implicit 2,700 flats crossed astir 60 ample buildings, connected by elevated walkways making it 1 of the largest of its benignant successful occidental Europe.

But the towers, erstwhile seen arsenic the solution to municipality overcrowding, person often go associated with information concerns and societal issues.

In 2005, erstwhile Conservative person Michael Howard infamously dubbed the Aylesbury Estate "Hell's waiting room".

The property has been slated for redevelopment since 2010, but advancement has been slow.

The calamity of Jovanni's decease connected that estate, is compounded by its seeming preventability.

Luanda explains that portion determination was a latch connected the room window, the 1 successful Jovanni's chamber "wasn't successful a bully state".

It's a communal ailment among residents of ageing high-rises crossed London.

The authorities says section lodging authorities indispensable instrumentality enforcement enactment if they deliberation a superior hazard - specified arsenic the imaginable for radical falling betwixt levels - exists.

Under the existent legislation, tenants tin instrumentality their landlords to tribunal if their spot is not acceptable for quality habitation.

The authorities has told the BBC it is poised to tighten existing information standards.

In a statement, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said each of the deaths highlighted by the BBC were "absolutely tragic" adding: "Everyone has the close to a decent, harmless location and landlords person a wide work to guarantee their properties are secure.

"We are taking enactment to fortify safety, with a caller Decent Homes Standard for the rented sectors to guarantee safe, unafraid lodging is the modular expected successful societal lodging and backstage rented properties."

The BBC returned to the Aylesbury Estate and recovered akin information concerns persist for existent residents and plentifulness of radical who retrieve Jovanni.

Florence Bouachie has lived connected the property for 30 years and is connected the 4th floor.

She said: "I'm acrophobic astir my grandchildren and don't privation them to spell adjacent [the windows] erstwhile I unfastened the door.

"I'll marque definite cipher spell there, due to the fact that the windows are not harmless astatine all."

Retired infirmary idiosyncratic Alexander Olalla has lived connected the property since 1974.

Asked astir the windows, helium said: "They request the windows to fastener properly, yeah? And they don't astatine the moment."

Southwark Council said: "We privation everyone successful Southwark to unrecorded successful harmless and decent homes and privation to talk to anyone who has information concerns astir their housing.

"We volition talk with radical surviving successful older homes connected the Aylesbury property astir the issues raised."

For Luanda and countless different families these incidents are not conscionable statistics.

"These aren't conscionable 'inadequate properties', they're imaginable decease traps.

"Every clip I perceive of different fall, I think, 'that could person been prevented'.

Luanda believes 1 solution is for landlords and councils to transportation retired regular banal checks connected their properties.

"We truly request to get retired and bash something, due to the fact that 1 kid is 1 excessively many," she added.