Boy, 5, died when 8ft mirror fell on him while he was looking at his reflection
Boy, 5, died when 8ft mirror fell on him while he was looking at his reflection
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A ‘funny and clever’ five-year-old boy was killed by a falling mirror after he touched it while looking at his own reflection, an inquest heard. CCTV footage showed Freddie Farrow with his mum and her friend in the lingerie section of the Fenwick store in Colchester, Essex, on July 27, 2021. Inside there was a mirror, measuring 8ft 6in high, 2ft high, and estimated to weigh between 132lb and 176lb, Temporary Detective Chief Inspector Michael Pannell told the opening day of his inquest.
![[Boy, 5, died after '80kg mirror fell on top of him' Fenwick store in Colchester, Essex Picture: Google Maps]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/SEI_238450176-3f60.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
‘Freddie appears to touch the mirror, looking at his own reflection’, Pannell said. ‘The mirror appears to shimmer before moving forwards.’. It hit the top and back of Freddie’s head as it fell. He suffered a ‘catastrophic brain injury’, the inquest heard. When police arrived after the alarm was raised around 11.32am, they found broken glass and a ‘considerable amount of blood on the floor’.
A report written by Detective Inspector Fred Tomkins, who was unable to attend the inquest, said: ‘Very little force was used by Freddie, and my view is the mirror must have been very near or on its balance point.’. Metal brackets were on the mirror and a column wall, with a wooden part of the bracket broken into pieces. Tomkins’ report said: ‘It was my view that this part of the bracket between the two metal brackets had effectively come apart, leaving it freestanding and leaning against the wall.’.
Freddie’s mother, Natasha Ingham, who attended the hearing with other family members, described her son as ‘cheeky and funny and clever’. She said: ‘He was always smiling which was like a ray of sunshine.’. His father, Andrew Farrow, who was not at the hearing, said in a statement read by the coroner’s officer, that it ‘feels like part of our world is missing’. The inquest, estimated to last four to five days, continues.
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