BOY, 4, DIES IN TUMBLE DRYER AFTE HIDE&SEEK GAMES GOES WRONG

[Daanyeer]

Boy, four, dies in home tumble dryer after hide-and-seek game goes tragically wrong
By Claire Ellicott
on 27th July 2010


A four-year-old boy died after climbing into a tumble dryer in what is believed to be a game of hide-and-seek that went tragically wrong.
Sonny Gibson was trapped in the machine for an hour while his family and police searched nearby fields for him thinking he had strayed from the house.
When the search moved into their home in rural Ashbourne, Derbyshire, his mother discovered the little boy in the machine's drum.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police would not say whether the machine was on when he was found.
It was still unclear last night whether he had suffocated or died as the dryer began its cycle.


It is thought that he managed to climb into the dryer and somehow close the door behind him.
His mother Anne Shepherd, who is in her mid-40s, was last night too distressed to speak and was under medical supervision.
One neighbour, who asked not be named, said Sonny loved hide-and-seek and was 'always trying to give his brothers and sisters a surprise'.
Neighbours described him as a 'sweet little lad'. He had finished nursery last week and it was the first day of his holidays, they said.
It is understood his mother had gone shopping in the town centre some time after 10am yesterday and had left Sonny's elder half-sister and half-brothers to look after him.
The neighbour said: 'I've been told he was playing hide-and-seek while they were dozing on the sofa.
'He must have been in there at least an hour so God only knows what it must have been like.'
Police were called just after 10.30am by Sonny's mother who returned home to find that he was missing.



She was said to have recently split from Sonny's father and often left him in the care of her children from her previous relationship - Sarah, 20, Nathan, 19, Martin, 17, and Luke, 15.
Last night they were said to be inconsolable and blaming themselves for the tragedy.
Detectives were still at the house last night and half of the cul-de-sac remained cordoned off.
A police source said: 'It does seem it's a bizarre and tragic accident.'
Police were awaiting results of a post-mortem examination. No one has been arrested.
A Derbyshire Constabulary spokesman said: 'He was found by his mother, who had a police officer with her at the time. She's distraught, as can be expected.'


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