Hoodies escape charges on death of tower-fall boy

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Ahmed Benyermak, 16, fell 60ft after he tried to flee the youths by scaling the outside of the building in Hackney — despite being afraid of heights.

A coroner returned a verdict of accidental death on the model pupil after hearing police had been unable to bring charges against any of the suspects.

The inquest in Poplar heard that Ahmed had been with friends on the 14th floor of the tower block near his home in August 2008.

They spotted six youths in hoodies riding bikes near the building and, fearing the gang was pursuing some of Ahmed's friends, they ran away.

Det Insp Jimi Teli told the inquest some used the lift or stairs but Ahmed, despite a fear of heights, tried to escape down the outside of the building after climbing over an open balcony on the 14th floor.

He managed to reach the seventh floor, where he got stuck, and shouted for help before losing his grip and plummeting to his death.

The court heard that police arrested six youths after they were caught on CCTV while fleeing the scene and questioned 295 witnesses.

Coroner Gail Elliman said: "The police tried hard to see if anyone could be held responsible. But this is going to be described as nothing more than a terrible accident in terrible circumstances."

The schoolboy died hours before he was due to pick up his GCSE results which showed that he had passed all nine subjects.

A Met spokesman said: "This case is not closed. We are still asking for anyone with information to come forward."