Teenage burglar in critical condition after plunging five storeys from tower block

The 16-year-old was left with spinal, leg and arm injuries after falling five floors.

He was clambering from balcony to balcony when he slipped.

The teenager, who has not been named, is thought to have been raiding an eighth-floor flat when he was disturbed and made a dash for it.

Peter Orpwood, 51, who lives on the seventh floor of the tower block in Laindon, near Basildon, Essex, said he tried to grab the intruder as he saw him climb over his balcony.

He said: 'I heard a banging noise. I rushed out and saw a young man on the outside of my balcony.

Treatment: The suspected burglar is being treated at Queens Hospital in Essex

'I grabbed hold of his arm, but he broke free. He climbed down two floors to the fifth balcony but slipped and fell.

'It was like something from a film. He fell in slow motion and didn't make any noise.

'He landed on his side and didn't move at first. He was lucky not to land on his head.

'When the ambulance arrived, he was conscious.' 

Mr Orpwood added that the suspect dropped prescription drugs as he fell.

It is thought the teenager had been living on the ninth floor and been kicked out before burgling the eighth floor home.

A resident reported £100 or property had been stolen from the flat, including a pair of glasses and a picture frame.

The boy was taken to Basildon Hospital but later transferred to Queens Hospital in Romford, Essex.

Police have not been able to question the boy since the fall on August 7 at 8.30pm because of the extent of his injuries.

Nishan Wijeratne, spokesman for Essex Police, said: 'Police were contacted by ambulance services following reports a man had fallen from a balcony.

'At the same time, a resident contacted police to report he had returned home to find he had been burgled.

'Officers arrived to find a 16-year-old boy with serious spine, leg and arm injuries. Detectives are now awaiting to speak to the boy in connection with the burglary at the flat.'