Pregnant woman jumped from ninth floor - inquest

A heavily pregnant woman died when she jumped from the ninth floor of a tower block but did not intend to take her own life, an inquest has found.

Emma Atkinson, 38, exited the window of a flat in Shakespeare Towers, in the Burmantofts area of Leeds, on 22 October 2024.

Her baby daughter was delivered in hospital and has since made an "unexpected and much welcomed" recovery.

Recording a narrative verdict, assistant coroner Naomi McLoughlin said there was not enough evidence to suggest it was suicide, but the act of climbing out of the window was deliberate.

Emma, who had five children, climbed out of the window of her father's flat at about 10:20 BST that morning.

David Atkinson, her father, said she had been sitting on a chair in his living room which was next to the window.

"Emma asked for cigarettes and sat on the back of the chair. She began to smoke and asked how to open the window," he told Wakefield Coroner's Court.

Emma told her father she was "just getting some air" and had removed the safety catches, before saying "I'm off" as she went out of the window, he said in a written statement to the court.

Paramedics were called and, although her injuries were severe, performed CPR on Emma in the hope of saving the baby, the court heard.

Her injuries, which included multiple serious blunt force injuries, were described as not survivable by hospital staff.

At 10:43, Emma arrived at hospital with paramedics still performing CPR.

The baby was delivered by C-section in less than a minute.

During the inquest, the coroner heard evidence about Emma's previous attempts on her life, including an overdose.

There had also been incidents of self-harm in the past and she had expressed concerns to doctors that she may have a mental health disorder, but she "loved her kids", her family told the court.

In the days before her death, Emma had missed a court hearing following a shoplifting charge, the coroner was told.

Giving evidence, Det Con Emily Parnham of West Yorkshire Police said David Atkinson had told her Emma was "stressed" at the prospect of going to prison.

However, she was also excited by the impending birth of her daughter, and the gender reveal for her grandchild, her family added.

Her daughter, Demi, said she did not feel her mother would have taken her own life, adding: "She was an absolutely incredible mum."

David Atkinson said: "She was not just a good mum, but a fantastic mum, and everything she did was for her children. They are all understandably devastated and the family don't understand why she did what she did."

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