UK

Police rule out foul play in Conley Thompson's death

A police officer places floral tributes near a construction site where seven-year-old Conley Thompson's body was found
A police officer places floral tributes near a construction site where seven-year-old Conley Thompson's body was found A police officer places floral tributes near a construction site where seven-year-old Conley Thompson's body was found

POLICE in Yorkshire say there are no suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of the seven-year-old boy whose body was found on a building site.

Conley Thompson died when he got stuck in a vertical plastic pipe and his clothing restricted his breathing on the site in Worsbrough, near Barnsley.

South Yorkshire Police said there was "no suggestion of any third party involvement" but they are investigating the cause of the boy's death and working with the Health and Safety Executive.

Conley was reported missing on Sunday night. His body was discovered by building workers the following morning.

His grandmother Deborah Fraser went to the site to pay tribute to her grandson and said she was "shell-shocked" by his death.

"As a person he was a lovely little lad, boisterous, got into anything and everything but his smile could light up a room," she said.

"It's not even sunken in now that he's gone. I'm stood next to the place where he died and I'm thinking 'what the hell were you doing Conley in a place like this?"'

Conley vanished after playing with friends in Locke Park, a mile away from the site and about two miles away from his home in Barnsley, police said.

People have laid flowers and teddies at the construction site.

A book of condolences is being opened at the nearby St Thomas' Church in Worsbrough.