UK Window Cleaners Ladder Fall & Suicide

The Claremont Lions Hotel Grand Parade, Eastbourne.

Window cleaner fights for his life after hotel fall: A man is fighting for his life in a London hospital after falling from a seafront hotel on Tuesday afternoon. Homberto Lopez is believed to have been cleaning windows at the Claremont Hotel in Grand Parade when he fell off a ladder and landed in a basement. Although he only fell six feet, the 41-year-old suffered a severe head injury and is currently on a life support machine at Kings College Hospital in London where his condition is described as critical but stable. His wife is by his bedside.

The accident happened at around 3pm when ambulance, police and fire crews were called to the seafront hotel. Mr Lopez, who had been cleaning windows for a private firm of contractors, was winched from the basement area by firefighters and tended to by paramedics before being transferred to the waiting Sussex Air Ambulance. The air ambulance had landed on the beach opposite the hotel and roads were closed while the man was stretchered across before being flown to the Kings College Hospital in London.

The Claremont Hotel was recently sold to Daish Holidays and director George Brown said yesterday (Thursday) Mr Lopez had been working for a private firm of contractors and was not connected directly with the hotel staff. He said, “It was a very unfortunate accident and our thoughts and prayers are with the man concerned and his family. We hope he makes a full recovery.”

The accident is now being investigated jointly by both Sussex Police and the Health and Safety Executive. A spokesperson for Sussex Police said, “We are working with the HSE regarding an incident in which a man is believed to have fallen from a height while at work. The investigation into how he fell continues in our joint investigation with the HSE. “We would like to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident or who saw a man working in the area shortly before. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sussex Police on 101 quoting serial 964 of 22/1.”

Raymond Hollingsworth had recently celebrated his 60th birthday when his body was found hanging from a bridge. 'No work, no money, no pension, no future': What recession-hit businessman wrote in suicide note before he killed himself on canal bridge.

Father hanged himself after pension fell through: A self-employed window cleaner who threw himself from a canal bridge close to his Church Crookham home wrote a note saying "no work, no money, no pension, no future," an inquest has heard. Raymond Hollingsworth was found hanging from Coxheath Bridge over the Basingstoke Canal by a dog walker on November 27 last year. The father-of-two had taken out business loans after discovering his private pension scheme was not going to mature as planned, an inquest in Basingstoke heard on January 24.

Raymond Hollingsworth was found hanging from Coxheath Bridge over the Basingstoke Canal by a dog walker.

North East Hampshire coroner Andrew Bradley read a statement from Mr Hollingsworth's wife Linda, who chose not to attend the hearing. She said her husband, a keen gardener who would run up to eight miles a day several times a week, was a family man who had shown no signs of being unhappy. Mrs Hollingsworth added her husband had celebrated his 60th birthday on November 20 but that in the lead up to it he was a bit upset, saying he did not want to be 60.

Happy family: Raymond Hollingsworth with his family including wife Linda who said he had shown no signs of being unhappy.

The couple, who have a son Mark and daughter Ria, had been at home and watched television together the night before Mr Hollingsworth's body was found. Mrs Hollingsworth said the following morning she thought her husband had gone to work and only learned this was not the case when police visited the family home after his body was found. Police found keys and Mr Hollingsworth's passport when they searched his pockets. The note, signed by Mr Hollingsworth, was found inside the passport. Mr Bradley recorded a verdict of suicide.

Sad Window Cleaning News

Singapore witnesses 11th maid death by falling from window: Police are classifying the death as “unnatural” and are currently investigating the death of a maid in her 20s who fell from the 19th storey last Wednesday. The foreign worker, whose nationality was not released by police, fell to her death from a condominium on Bayshore Road last week, in what is the 11th such death this year alone, worrying police that employers are not following new guidelines for their workers when cleaning windows. 

Starting in June, employers were required to follow stricter guidelines when their maids clean the outside of their homes, after a number of maids had fallen to their deaths, but reports suggest the employers are not abiding by the new regulations set by the Manpower Ministry. “I think we need to look at how we investigate and enforce these new restrictions, because the continued deaths of maids in Singapore is unacceptable,” said an official at the ministry when Bikyamasr.com called for a comment. The guidelines from the Manpower Ministry came in the wake of the spike in the number of maids who have fallen to their deaths this year. But police are investigating this recent death for possible foul play.

Window cleaner found hanged after break-up: A window cleaner hanged himself a few months after the break-up of a relationship, an inquest heard. Jason Allcock, who also self-harmed, was found dead in the garden of his family home. The body of the 41-year-old, who had a history of depression and alcohol abuse, was discovered by wife Janet. The inquest was told Mr Allcock had started to see Audrey Craggs following the break-up of his marriage. But the relationship ended after Mr Allcock failed to overcome his problem with alcohol. On the day of Mr Allcock's death, November 21, Miss Craggs met him at his home in Newhouse Road, Bucknall. She said: "When I went to leave he grabbed my jumper and he said he would always love me and I was his beautiful angel." Mrs Allcock said: "It sent him downhill when he broke up with the other woman." Assistant deputy coroner Margaret Jones recorded a suicide verdict. She said: "There was little or nothing the family could have done to prevent this tragic incident."

Window cleaner jailed over £4 taxi fare dodge: A window cleaner who dodged a £4 taxi fare has been jailed for 78 days after being told he risked bringing ‘ridicule’ to the courts. Nathan Hooper, 20, was already under a suspended prison sentence and had twice breached that before leaving the cabbie unpaid in Newhall. Deputy District Judge Peter Hollingworth told him: “You persistently offend court orders designed to ensure your compliance with the law. “If the courts continue to excuse you from the consequences of your actions, the entire policy behind that is brought into disrepute and into ridicule. “People will cease to believe courts mean what they say when they suspend a sentence. “You have left me with no choice but to send you to prison.” Derby Magistrates’ Court heard that Hooper, of Robinson Drive, Newhall, got a taxi to take him home from Church Gresley just after midnight on April 4.

The driver said he was a ‘regular customer’ and when they arrived at Hooper’s home, he waited for him to go indoors to get the cash. But Hooper did not return and ignored knocks on the door, said Lee Shepherd, prosecuting. Emma Cornell, defending, said Hooper had never caused previous problems for the taxi driver. When he arrived home, he found his girlfriend was out and he was unable to pay. The solicitor told the court: “He behaved stupidly by ignoring the taxi driver and making no attempt to pay.” Miss Cornell said Hooper was now in a ‘stable relationship’ and worked as a window cleaner for three days a week. He previously had a drug and alcohol problem which was ‘something which plagued his life,’ she said. Hooper pleaded guilty to a charge of making off without payment.

£18,000 worth of motocross bikes stolen: The dreams of a talented Gwent motocross rider could be over after his bikes worth £18,000 were stolen. His father has now offered a £1,000 reward for their return, so 18-year-old Ryan Williams can compete in national events this summer. Ryan spent the bank holiday weekend competing in the British Schoolboy Motorcycle Association (BSMA) championships at Wroxton Motopark, Oxfordshire, where he finished third in his class in a field of 300. But, after returning home to Llanfair Road, Caerwent on Sunday night, two bikes, worth £9,000 each plus a mountain bike worth £1,900 were stolen. Ryan's dad Tim said thieves had used bolt cutters to break into the wooden unit.  He said: "They'd left chains from the bikes on the floor, but even took a big metal bar from across the door. "They had turned sensors around so alarms wouldn't go off, so must have cased the place before. We use a big lorry and when thatÕs not there, people know I'm out." The theft is a devastating blow to the family- with Tim Williams, a window cleaner, using much of his income to fund his son's passion for the past 10 years.