Father blames baby’s death fall on ‘flimsy’ window catch
A BABY who fell to his death from a fourth-floor apartment managed t o push open a window because it had faulty safety restrictors, his inquest heard yesterday.
Sebastian Pereira Kus’s father said he and the boy’s mother were living through a nightmare he would not wish on his worst enemy after the tragic accident.
Following the inquest into the 21month-old’s death, Kamil Kus called on the management company in charge of the apartment complex to take measures to prevent a similar tragedy.
‘I really don’t want anyone to feel the same as we do right now. I would not wish it on my worst enemy,’ he said.
Sebastian fell 16 metres to the ground at the complex on April 25 last year. Dublin Coroner’s Court heard he pushed open a window despite safety restrictors designed to prevent it widening more than a few centimetres.
Gardaí who inspected the restrictors described them as ‘flimsy’ and easily dislodged.
Sebastian’s mother, Emmanuele Pereira Kus, said she put him to bed, which was against the wall underneath the window, for a morning nap at 9.30am.
She said she made sure the window handles were closed and shut the curtains.
‘He was a very smart child’
She was in the next room and only became aware that something was wrong 30 minutes later when a fireman called to her door. She ran into check on Sebastian.
‘He wasn’t in his bed and the bedroom window was open. I ran over to the window, I looked out and I saw Sebastian lying on the ground below,’ she said.
The alarm had been raised by a neighbour who spotted a child lying on the ground.
The baby was taken to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin, where he died later that day from severe head injuries sustained in the fall.
Ms Pereira Kus said that, following the accident, she tried to work out how Sebastian pushed open the window and said that when she pushed it herself, the safety restrictors would sometimes ‘pop up’.
‘Sebastian was a very smart child. He was always exploring, trying to learn everything,’ she said. ‘He loved music and especially loved to dance. He was very cuddly and always giving me hugs and kisses.’
The couple’s landlady, Elizabeth Laffan, said that when she let out the apartment to them f our months earlier, ‘all safety catches were working on all windows’ and she had shown the couple how to use them.
No key was provided to lock the windows, the court heard.
Scene of crime examiners found that the safety restrictors were faulty. Garda Mark Holohan said that they were ‘not robust’ and looked ‘flimsy’. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell noted the windows had not been child-proofed and the safety restrictors appeared ‘very fragile’. ‘Their suitability must be questioned,’ he said.
It is not the first inquest to hear about a child has died as a result of unsafe windows, he said.
‘I would appeal to all landlords of tenants with children to ensure that child-proofing is addressed,’ he said.
He returned a verdict of death by misadventure. He will write to the management company of The Tramyard apartment complex in Inchicore, Dublin 8 – identified in court as Keenan Management – recommending that it address the issues raised during the inquest.
After the inquest, Mr Kus said that the couple are currently expecting another son.
‘We are thinking how he would have played with Sebastian. How good he would be for him and would have looked after him. It is always going to be on your mind, it is like a scar for your life and you cannot erase it,’ he said.