UPDATED 6pm: The teenage boy who died in a fall at a disused building on Wyther Lane, Bramley, last night has been named as Myles Johnstone from Bramley.
The 14-year-old, who was known to friends as Mylo, was a pupil at Leeds West Academy.
ORIGINAL POST: Police are warning about the dangers of exploring abandoned buildings after a teenager died in a fall in Bramley last night.
Officers were called to disused industrial premises off Wyther Lane shortly after 8.30pm where a 14-year-old boy, who has not yet been named, 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 to the boy and were joined by ambulance staff, including air ambulance paramedics, who gave emergency treatment but unfortunately he died at the scene.
It 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 the disused Pennine Castings 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 last night’s incident had been a tragedy with no suspicious circumstances. He added:
“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.”
DI Jackson has issued a warning to youngsters about the dangers of exploring abandoned industrial buildings as the summer holidays approach. He said:
“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.
“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.”
He added that officers from local neighbourhood teams and safer schools officers will be linking with schools across the city to help get the message across.