Mother’s ‘Biggest Mistake’: Girl, 8, Dies in Tragic Balcony Fall

Portsmouth, UK –The heartbroken mother of an eight-year-old girl who tragically fell to her death from a sixth-floor balcony has told an inquest that allowing her daughter to play there was the “biggest mistake” of her life.

Minnie Rae Dunn suffered fatal multiple injuries after falling from the balcony of her mother Rebecca Dunn’s home in Pickwick House, Wingfield Street, Portsmouth, on August 24, 2023, shortly after 6 pm.

The Portsmouth hearing heard that the balcony was “cluttered” with approximately eight bin bags of old clothes and a cushioned pouffe chair at the time Minnie Rae and another girl went out to play.
Rebecca Dunn described her daughter as “sassy” and a “good kid,” explaining that Minnie Rae would sometimes use the balcony for messy activities like painting. The balcony featured a metre-high brick wall topped with anti-pigeon netting.

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Ms. Dunn testified that the pouffe, normally kept against the window, had been moved against the wall by someone who had stepped out for a cigarette. She initially refused her daughter’s request to go onto the balcony that day, but eventually relented. “She did ask to go out, I did say no at first but they got slime all over the bed,” Ms. Dunn explained. “I am a sucker for her eyes and ended up giving in and that was the biggest mistake of my life.”

The inquest also heard that Ms. Dunn had smoked cannabis earlier in the day, around 5 pm. She told police it made her “calm,” not “drowsy,” and asserted to the coroner, Jason Pegg, that it did not impact her ability to care for Minnie Rae. “I did it for my mental health, it’s not like I smoked it all day,” she stated, adding that she had not yet been able to grieve for her daughter.

The other girl present told police she attempted to grab Minnie Rae as she fell, saying, “I couldn’t hold on, my hand slipped off as she was moving really fast.” A neighbour reportedly saw Minnie Rae standing on something just before the fall.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, Minnie Rae could not be saved. Her grandmother, Dorothy Kenney, described Minnie Rae as “happy, she loved her family, she loved her school and her friends, she just liked to go out playing, going to different places on holiday.”

Coroner Jason Pegg concluded the death was accidental, stating, “This was a desperately dreadful and tragic accident.” He added, “I am going to record that Minnie Rae had been playing on the balcony and in that time elevated herself on an object which had been left on the balcony causing Minnie Rae to fall over the balcony wall.”

In a previous statement released through police, Ms. Dunn paid tribute to her daughter: “My angel, I am going to miss your sassiness and the way you spoke your mind. Your big bright smile that always melted my heart will be missed so much. I have a hole shape in my heart that will always be there. My little angel fly high, I love you to the moon and back. Mummy.”

Hampshire Constabulary previously confirmed that a 43-year-old woman arrested on suspicion of neglect in connection with the incident was released without charge.