Father tells of ‘happy, pretty’ daughter who died in fall from tower block

1/3

The father of an eight-year-old girl who plunged 150 feet to her death from a tower block told today how he felt "sick and numb".

Leanne Minick is believed to have been leaning out of her bedroom window on the 15th floor of the block to talk to a friend when she fell.

Her father, Mark Minick, 29, who had separated from Leanne's mother Claire Sicberras, said today: "I feel sick and numb. I still can't believe it. I keep thinking I'm going to see her sticking her head round the door.

"Leanne was brilliant, a lovely, pretty little girl. She was quite loud and full of life and had bags of energy. She'd talk to anybody.

"I'm trying to hang on to all the fun times we had together."

Leanne lived in the flat in Sandall House in Bow with Ms Sicberras and her new partner Ian Whitmore.

Mr Minick said: "I didn't get to see Leanne a lot because her mum and me didn't get on since we split up, but it never stopped me loving her. For me it was all about Leanne."

Paramedics treated Leanne where she fell before taking her to the Royal London Hospital. However, doctors were unable to save her.

The family were understood to be formally identifying her body today.

Police have launched an investigation into the death, which they are treating as unexplained.

Leanne's aunt, Melissa Minick, said: "We are going to go and see her. I can't get the images out my head, her falling 15 floors. I spoke to her mum earlier, she's so upset, I don't know what to say or do."

A spokesman for Tower Hamlets council said: "We are working with the police to establish the circumstances surrounding this terrible incident."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in