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West Yorkshire police investigate neglect in half-term tragedy of six-year-old falling from eighth floor of Leeds block
Four people including a teenage girl were being questioned on Wednesday night on suspicion of child neglect after a six-year-old boy fell eight storeys to his death from a block of flats in Leeds.
Shocked neighbours described how paramedics struggled in vain to save Liam Shackleton's life. Blue-and-white incident tape cordoned off part of the area as forensic officers examined a bedroom window 90ft above in the flat on the Lincoln Green estate which is rented by the child's grandparents.
The boy, who was on school half-term, had only recently moved in with his parents Martin and Tanya Shackleton and his older brother and sister.
West Yorkshire police said two men aged 57 and 36, a woman aged 28 and a 16-year-old girl were arrested soon after the tragedy on Tuesday evening. Neighbours made 999 calls shortly after 5.15pm and Liam was taken to the nearby Leeds general infirmary but died shortly after admission.
Martin Shackleton, who was out at the time, said he had been told about his son's death soon afterwards and was "in bits". He said Liam had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and was constantly on the go.
Detectives have not yet named the people arrested and could not confirm whether they included the child's mother, a grandparent or other family members. But Shackleton said his wife, Liam's grandfather, a cousin and a friend were in the flat when the fall happened.
A neighbour on the eighth floor, Mariam Kirma, said children had been rushing up and down the corridor shortly before the accident, with the door to the family's flat left open. She said: "They always wave and say hello to my daughter Shamsa and they did this when we got back home."
A pile of tributes grew outside the T-shaped block, Lindsey Mount, which has 60 flats and was built in 1958 after a slum clearance programme. They included a teddy bear with a note on pink paper saying: "Such a shame, such a young age and to be taken like that. Dear Father in Heaven, dear Father above, please guide and protect the ones that we love and guide them from danger. Guide them from fear for this child is so dear. Mama and Julie."
Another card said: "Sweet dreams little one love Jennifer, Paula and Mike" and a third recalled a "very brave and well-behaved little boy. Auntie Kath."
Care worker Jane Warden, who was one of the first at the scene, said: "I saw something out of the corner of my vision falling from up high and when I looked down I saw his little body completely still."
She said she often met the family at the estate's row of shops and they were "always very well behaved, and usually had a sweetie or a lollipop in their hand." Other neighbours said Martin Shackleton was a "grafter" who had worked hard at a succession of jobs.
Kathleen Smith, a long-time resident at , said Leeds city council had operated a no-children policy initially on high floors but the block was now full of families. She said: "It's no place for little children."
