The aftermath of the bricks collapse

A MOTHER who was rushed to hospital after being hit by falling rubble that narrowly missed her baby has called for landlords to get serious about building maintenance.

Jacqueline Coleman, who lives in West Hampstead, was sent tumbling as the facade masonry crashed down on her back but has escaped with minor injuries and her five-month old daughter unscathed.

The 41-year-old was thrown to the floor in West End Lane, near the junction with Finchley Road, after a cornice detail between two buildings collapsed on Monday morning. Ambulance, London Fire Brigade, police and a council engineer have made inspections and two landlords are said to be working together to repair the building.

Jacqueline Coleman after the incident

Ms Coleman told the New Journal: “If I had been just that tiny little bit slower all of that brickwork would have gone in the pram. That could have been really fatal for my baby. Does it take my child to die for them to do something about this? What has to happen? This isn’t a joke.

“Business owners and landlords around here really need to maintain their buildings because there is so much potential for something fatal happening. In West Hampstead, there are so many mums and dads. You walk the streets with your kids telling them not to go near the roads, but you don’t think that something is going to fall from a building.”

The firefighter who helped treat Ms Coleman told her she was so lucky not to be more seriously injured by the bricks she should get a lottery ticket. (She did the next day – but it lost.)

She said: “If I hadn’t been texting and my head had been up it would have hit my head. It fell on my back and I just totally flew forward. Out of instinct, I pushed the pram towards this bench, not the road. It winded me, I fell to the ground. I screamed: ‘Where’s my baby! Where’s my baby!’ I was uncontrollably shaking. I didn’t know if what had hit me had hit her.”

An ambulance was passing at the time taking another patient to hospital and the crew got out to help. “I was just shouting for my baby and they brought her to me and she was totally fine and smiling and it was really nice to hold her,” said Ms Coleman.

Mark Durban, director of ML Estates, said: “It could have been a million times worse, it could have been tragic. If this means that we do now get freeholders and managing agents to inspect buildings far more regularly and check roofs for loose slates and tiles then that would be great. This is symptomatic now of climate change and buildings are suffering from subsidence movements and the weather.”

Concerns around this week’s near miss echoed those that followed the collapse of a wall in Potteries Path, West Hampstead, in the summer, almost killing two young children.

Ms Coleman’s home backs onto the 156 West End Lane development and the view from her garden flat is now completely blocked by a wall of housing. A tall crane was rotating above the garden on Tuesday when the New Journal dropped by.

James and Natalie Raiher, clinical directors of The Practice 322, said in a statement: “We were absolutely shocked at Monday’s events and were grateful for the rapid response of the emergency services. “We were relieved that the woman involved was not seriously injured and we send her heartfelt wishes for a swift and full recovery.

“Shortly after the incident, a thorough inspection of the brickwork was conducted by both the London Fire Brigade and an engineer from Camden Council. We understand that the owner of our building and the building next door will be working together to make full repairs.”

A Camden Council spokesperson said: “Camden’s Building Control have a duty to inspect dangerous structures reported to them and take any necessary action to protect the public where the owner has failed to respond. “Building Control were called to attend the incident after the bricks had fallen to inspect the building façade, and to make sure that no further risk remained to the public. They will now be writing to the owner reminding them of their responsibility to maintain the building.”