“HE BELIEVED HE COULD FLY”: 5-YEAR-OLD AALIM AHMED’S FATAL 15TH-FLOOR FALL RAISES QUESTIONS ABOUT WINDOW SAFETY

A five-year-old boy with autism fell to his death from the 15th-floor kitchen window of a London apartment block, after an inquest heard he may have believed he could fly or that he would come to no harm.

Aalim Ahmed died at the scene after falling from Jacobs House in Plaistow, East London, in the early hours of May 16, 2024. His father, Makail Ahmed, rushed from the family’s top-floor apartment and discovered his son shortly before 6 a.m.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT MORNING?

According to the coroner’s findings, Aalim woke during the early hours and went from his bedroom into the kitchen.

He climbed onto a chair and then onto the windowsill of a double turn-and-tilt window.

The inquest heard that he opened the window and fell.

Assistant Coroner Ian Wade concluded that Aalim’s autism left him unable to reliably judge his own safety and abilities. He said the child may have had a “naive belief that he could fly” or that he would come to no harm.

 HIS MOTHER HAD ALREADY RAISED CONCERNS

Aalim’s mother, Sahra Osman, told the inquest that she had repeatedly complained about the apartment’s windows.

She said she was frightened by how far the windows could open and that she did not have a key.

She also described Aalim as having “no sense of danger” because of his autism.

For Osman, the tragedy was therefore not simply an unforeseeable accident.

She described her son’s death as preventable and questioned whether the window’s safety mechanisms had been properly repaired.

 BUT ENGINEERS GAVE A DIFFERENT ACCOUNT

The condition of the window became one of the most important issues at the inquest.

An engineer sent by Newham Council inspected the windows in December 2023 and said they were functioning.

Another engineer, Charlie Mann, testified that he had tested the handles and restrictors and found them working.

However, after speaking with Aalim’s mother about her concerns, Mann decided the restrictors should be replaced with lockable versions rather than ones operated by a button.

Nine new restrictors were ordered, and contractors came to install them in January 2024.

THEN ANOTHER TEST RAISED QUESTIONS

The case became even more complicated when the company’s managing director, James Mann, reviewed video of police testing the window after Aalim’s death.

The inquest heard that the restrictor did not engage every time the police officer operated the window.

Mann said the mechanism needed adjustment and that “something is not quite right,” although he said he would need to examine the window more closely before reaching a firm conclusion.

That evidence left the family with a painful question:

Could the tragedy have been prevented if the window had been properly secured?

 A CHILLING SOUND ON CCTV

Investigators also examined CCTV footage from outside the building.

The court heard that a young child’s voice could apparently be heard twice saying:

“Three, two, one.”

Seconds later came a loud clang.

Detective Constable Joe Linton said the available footage most likely showed Aalim leaving the apartment through the window without another person present.

Police found no evidence that someone had forced him out.

Detective Inspector Jamie Humm said there was no evidence or suspicion of a crime, describing the apartment as a well-furnished and loving environment for a child.

 WHAT DID THE CORONER CONCLUDE?

Coroner Ian Wade said the windows “were not used appropriately.”

But he also concluded there was no compelling reason for the landlord to have believed putting the family in a 15th-floor apartment was itself inappropriate.

His conclusion characterized Aalim’s death as a tragic accident involving a child who could not reliably assess the danger.

 A FAMILY LEFT WITH QUESTIONS

For Aalim’s parents, however, the tragedy did not end with the inquest.

His mother had already raised concerns about the windows.

Engineers had examined them.

Restrictors were supposed to be replaced.

And yet, on one terrible morning, their five-year-old son reached a window high above the ground and fell.

Flowers were later left outside the building in his memory.

Newham Council described his death as a “tragic accident” and said its thoughts remained with Aalim’s family and friends.

 THE QUESTION THAT REMAINS

There was no evidence of a third party.

No criminal case emerged.

But the inquest exposed a troubling disagreement over the condition and safety of the window — including evidence that a restrictor did not always engage during later testing.

Aalim was only five.

His family had warned about the windows.

And today, they are left remembering a little boy whose life ended in a matter of seconds.

A five-year-old child.

A 15th-floor window.

Previous safety concerns.

Conflicting evidence about the window’s condition.

And a heartbreaking question that will remain with his family:

Could Aalim’s death have been prevented?