Burglar fell to death from flat
ABURGLAR fell 130ft to his death while trying to climb up the outside of a tower block.
Jason Heywood had broken into a 13th floor flat directly below his and was attempting to hoist himself back up to his balcony when he slipped and plunged to a grass verge below.
An inquest into his death heard how Mr Heywood, 40, had ‘tightly wound’ a leather belt around the handrail of his balcony at Mitchell Hey in College Bank, Rochdale, and lowered himself down.
He then stole an Xbox with a number of games and other items from the flat before attempting to climb back up when he ‘lost his balance or lost his footing with tragic and catastrophic results’.
His body was found on a grass verge immediately below the flat with a number of Xbox games strewn around.
He was declared dead at the scene.
A pathologist’s report found he died from multiple injuries.
Det Insp Martin Reddington, who attended the incident on August 13 last year, told the inquest at Heywood coroners court that the stolen Xbox was found on Mr Heywood’s balcony.
He added: “In my opinion he used the leather belt to lower himself down to the floor below.
“The balcony door was left open because the occupant didn’t expect anyone to come in that way.
“We will never know the exact circumstances, but I believe he may have been disturbed and, rushing to get from one balcony to another, slipped and fell.”
In a statement burglary victim Elizabeth Smith said she returned to her flat at about 11.30pm and noticed the kitchen light was on, her belongings had been disturbed and some of her things were missing.
When she looked out of the balcony she noticed a belt dangling from the floor above and that netting, which protected the balconies from birds, had been ripped.
She then looked down to the floor and saw Mr Heywood’s body on the grass verge.
The inquest heard that Mr Heywood, a roofer, who grew up in Heywood, attending Siddal Moor school, had had drug problems since his early 20s.
On the night of his death the father-of-two, who lived with his girlfriend, Karen Neil, had taken a ‘cocktail’ of crack cocaine, heroin and prescription drugs.
He was described by his mum Judith Pickford as a loving dad. In a statement she said: “We loved him deeply and miss him every day.”
Coroner Simon Nelson recorded a conclusion of death by misadventure, saying Mr Heywood’s judgement had been ‘profoundly affected’ by his drug-taking.
He added: “If his judgement had not been so affected I believe he would still be with us today.”