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Safety plea after two children strangled by blind cords
Two young children died after becoming entangled in window blind cords in separate but almost identical incidents, police said today.
Lillian Bagnall-Lambe, from Dartmouth Street, Stafford, died last Tuesday aged 16 months. Just five days earlier, three-year-old Harrison Joyce suffered the same fate at his Lichfield home.
In a bid to prevent the tragedy from happening again, Harrison's family has launched a campaign for "Harrison's Law", hoping to ban the sale of looped cords on curtains and blinds in the UK.
The family said: "Sadly Harrison was tragically taken from us on February 4 2010, our lives will never be the same.
"He was a very special and beautiful baby that brought so much love and joy into our lives."
Detective Inspector Vicky Roberts, from Staffordshire Police, said: "These heart-breaking accidents highlight the dangers that are present in homes.
"It is vital that parents do all they can to make their properties as safe as possible for their young children.
"We would urge them to go around their home looking at all potential risks and thinking about how to reduce the danger posed by what may, on the surface, appear to be innocuous items."
South Staffordshire Coroner Andrew Haigh said: "I am saddened to have these two deaths reported to me. In due course I will be holding full inquests into the deaths but I feel it is appropriate at this time that parents of young children are reminded of the potential danger of blind cords."
Sheila Merrill, home safety manager for England at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said: "We typically hear about one or two children dying after becoming tangled in blind cords in the UK each year and there are many more near misses.
"To hear about two cases in five days in the same area brings home to all of us the danger looped cords pose to children."
She added: "The danger for young children is that a loop which hangs at waist height for an adult could slip around the neck of a young child if he or she falls or, if the loop is at floor level, it could become wrapped around the neck of a baby who is crawling.
"There have also been cases in which babies have been accidentally strangled by cord loops hanging into their cots.
"If you're thinking of buying new blinds, look for a design which doesn't have cords or chains."
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Friday 25 May 2012
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