Mum of office fall child 'content' after inquiry

Louise McCreath, 34, said she and her husband Ross, 40, were proud that the investigation into Ben's death could prevent similar tragedies happening in future.

The 21-month-old plummeted 15ft through glass panelling at the offices of law firm Ledingham Chalmers on 14 February 2006, suffering fatal head injuries. Mrs McCreath had been leaving a redundancy meeting with her employers at the Princes Exchange Building in Tollcross when the toddler ran ahead of her and squeezed through a 15cm gap between a safety barrier and a wall.

Speaking from her Penicuik home, Mrs McCreath said after the conclusion of the inquiry yesterday: "The best way to describe it would be to say I am content with it. Happy and delighted are the right words but wrong in this context. 'Content' is the best outcome we could have hoped for in this situation."

At the hearing, Sheriff Mhairi Stephen recommended that building laws should be tightened to prevent a similar tragedy occurring in future. Mrs McCreath said: "If anything comes out of this that prevents it happening to anyone else then Ross and I are extremely proud.

"It is closure for the family. This has been going on for four years now and it has helped in a way that is it finished.

"You are always thinking of Ben, he was our son so we are always going to be thinking about him.

"He was only 21 months old and he has made such an impact through this, more than I have ever made at 34. That makes me very proud as a mum. It doesn't make it easier but it gives his death a purpose.

"I would give anything to turn back the clock but some days you have to think how proud you are of him, because of Ben nobody else will ever go through this." She said she and her husband would always remember their son as "so much fun to be around".

She added: "The way Ben died was exactly who he was – mischievous, always on the go. He was just a typical wee boy who loved just having fun, loved to play, loved being involved."

Building regulations currently specify that gaps in protective barriers should not be large enough to permit a child's head to pass through, but this only applies to buildings where children are anticipated to be present.

Sheriff Stephen said the so-called the 100mm rule should be extended to apply to all gaps in barriers in all non-domestic buildings.

She said that Ben's death was a "tragic accident" and said she made no criticism of Mrs McCreath's care of her son.

She ruled that he died from head injuries as a result of the fall, and conveyed her "deepest sympathies" to the McCreath family and their friends.