Boy dies after car window incident

Neighbours said the boy, believed to be Michael Dury, was playing with his younger brother Jonathan in the vehicle when his neck became trapped in the window.

His mother, Wendy Broughton, had parked the family car outside their home in New Addington, Croydon, Surrey, but left the engine running, meaning the electrics were still working.

The two boys had been playing inside the vehicle for less than five minutes when Michael's head became trapped between the window and the car frame, according to reports.

Police and the ambulance service went to the scene on Wednesday afternoon but paramedics did not manage to revive the boy on their way to St George's Hospital in Tooting.

A neighbour told the Daily Mail: "We heard little Michael screaming and the next thing we knew, ambulances and paramedics were swarming all over the place. They couldn't save him though."

Another said: "This is an absolute tragedy. We can't believe it. He was just playing with the electric window as kids do. He just kept pressing up and the window closed on his neck and he was strangled. It's so sad."

Scotland Yard said the boy was pronounced dead at the hospital at just before 4pm.

Michael's mother, who is thought to have been bringing up the two boys and their older sister, Sophie, 10, alone after splitting from their father, was said to be "devastated".

A post mortem will take place on August 21 at Queen Mary's Hospital Mortuary and an inquest into the death will open two days later at Croydon Coroner's Court.