Suspected burglar who fell 40ft called medics

Published: 21 January, 2011
by JAMIE WELHAM

A suspected burglar called 999 after suffering severe spinal injuries when he plunged three storeys from a house

THE man fell 40 feet and landed in the basement garden of a property in Elizabeth Avenue, off Essex Road, last Friday lunchtime.

The woman who lives in the upstairs flat said she heard him screaming for help and believes he fell from her windowsill.

The 76-year-old former Islington Council carer, who asked not to be named, said: “He was just shouting ‘help me. help me’. It was very wet, I think he must have slipped off the windowsill.”

It is believed the man scaled scaffolding further down the row of terraces, and climbed onto the roof. 

The occupant added: “Police showed me the fingerprints afterwards but I didn’t know anything at the time. The first I knew he was shouting and the police helicopter was looking for him. They said he didn’t know where he was. He said he was in ‘someone’s garden’.

“They were with him for about three hours before they took him out the stretcher. I went out to help but by that time paramedics were already there.”

A police spokeswoman said: “Police were called by London Ambulance Service at 12.12pm on Friday, January 14, to reports of a man having fallen from a third floor roof at an address in Elizabeth Gardens. The 35-year-old man was taken to a north London hospital with serious injuries to his spine and lower limbs, which are believed to be non-life-threatening. A 35-year old-man was arrested on January 14 on suspicion of burglary and has been bailed to return to police on March 22.”