Teenager dies after falling from roof in Leeds

Police have confirmed that a 14-year-old boy has died after falling from the roof of a disused building in between Kirkstall and Bramley.

He's been named as Mylo Johnstone and is from the local area.

Officers were called to disused industrial premises off Wyther Lane shortly after 8:30pm where the boy was found seriously injured.

While the full circumstances are still being established, it is believed he had gone to the site with friends and had been on the roof when he fell through into the building.

Officers gave first aid and were joined by ambulance staff, including air ambulance paramedics, who gave emergency treatment but unfortunately he died at the scene.

The scene is undergoing forensic examination today and officers from Leeds District CID are liaising with the Health and Safety Executive and Leeds City Council and contacting the owners of the site.

Last night’s incident follows two similar recent incidents in Leeds where two boys were seriously injured in falls at disused buildings. A 12-year-old boy was seriously injured at a disused factory in Modder Avenue, Armley, of June 20, and a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured at a derelict building in Ninelands Lane, Garforth, on May 28.

Detective Inspector Phil Jackson, of Leeds District CID, said: “While we are still carrying out enquiries into this incident, every indication is that this has been a tragedy with no suspicious circumstances.

“Clearly the boy’s family are completely distraught and we are doing everything we can to support them at this difficult time and have appointed a family liaison officer to assist them.

“We are speaking with the Health and Safety Executive, the council and the owners of the site to establish the full circumstances of this incident and to see that suitable measures are put in place to avoid any further incidents.

“This is the third incident of this nature in recent months, although sadly on this occasion it has proven fatal. In the other two cases, young boys have received very serious injuries that will have lasting consequences for them.

“We fully appreciate that young people can find sites such as this interesting and want to explore them. While we would never seek to blame the young people involved in these recent incidents for what has happened we do need to remind young people of the potential dangers of entering abandoned buildings and other places, such as building sites, and we hope parents will assist us by reinforcing that message to their children.

“Officers from our neighbourhood teams and safer schools officers are linking with schools across the city the assist in getting the message across.

“We are obviously coming up the school holidays and clearly there is potential for young people to be tempted to try to explore abandoned sites. We would ask that they think very carefully about the dangers this involves, as has been starkly illustrated by these incidents, and that they consider the consequences that could have on their lives and the lives of their families.”