Boy, 12, injured after falling through skylight while playing on Northampton rooftop

Police officers have issued a warning to youngsters about the dangers of '˜urban exploring' in Northampton after a 12-year-old lad fell off a roof before being rushed to hospital.
Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.
Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.

The incident happened at about 2.10pm yesterday (August 7), when a 12-year-old boy, who had been playing on the roofs of buildings in Abington Street, fell through a skylight - causing himself a number of injuries.

All three emergency services were called to the incident and the boy was taken to Northampton General Hospital.

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Police Sergeant James Elliott today said: “This incident could have been so much worse and thankfully the boy in question did not sustain life-threatening injuries.

Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.
Police have today issued a warning following an urban exploring incident yesterday.

“However he easily could have done and I hope this serves as a warning to those people who think playing on roofs is a good idea - it is extremely dangerous and could lead to a serious injury or even death.

“There tends to be two groups of urban explorers – people who try to do it in an organised way with safety in mind, and young people who are ill-prepared and ill-skilled, who put themselves and others at risk.

“We understand that young people want to have fun but they need to understand the dangers that this kind of activity brings as well as understanding that the very stretched emergency services who attended the scene yesterday could have been needed elsewhere.

“We want to educate rather than enforce. If we can prevent this kind of activity from taking place we’re removing risk and preventing criminal behaviour, helping keep everyone safe.”