Tragic teenager named locally as Stafford residents say tree 'had been leaning for days'

A Staffordshire teenager, named locally as Brodan, died tragically after a tree fell in a Stafford park, sparking shock and sadness in the community.

Holmcroft Park was cordoned off at both ends while police investigators worked at the scene around the playground and skatepark where, on Saturday evening, paramedics, police and an air ambulance had been in attendance.

A large blue tent could be seen in the park, while investigators could be seen walking around the woodland surrounding the park, which is in the north of Stafford.

People were also seen leaving tributes and bouquets of flowers to the boy, named locally as Brodan, next to the cordon near Holmcroft Library, with one woman expressing her sorrow for “the poor little mite”.

Paul Cassidy had been walking his dog Jack in the area near the cordon and said he’d also seen a tree wedged against another tree.

He said: “There was one wedged up yesterday morning and you could see where it had fallen over and where it had caught the big tree, so it was kind of wedged in position, but had looked fairly stable.

“Hearing about a kid dying is horrific and awful and it makes me wonder if I should have said something about the tree, although I don’t know who I would have spoken to about it.

“There have been times in the past where we’ve had high winds and a tree got blown down, but it’s very rare that something like this happens around here and my thoughts go out to his family.”

Around the neighbourhood that surrounds the park, there were feelings of shock and sadness among residents, with one resident saying she was still taking in the enormity of what had happened, saying: “My heart goes out to the family as it’s such an awful thing to happen”.

One resident, Diane Farmer, said she hadn’t been able to sleep much after what had happened, saying that she was angry as she’d reported the tree to Stafford Council earlier in the week.

She said: “The tree had come down on Tuesday night when my husband took the dogs out and he told me to be careful when taking the dogs out, so I went out the next morning and inspected it and how it had broken.

“I phoned the council and told them it was there and it was dangerous and while I can’t say whether anyone came or not to look at it, it was still there.

“I feel sick knowing what has happened and it took me ages to get to sleep last night as I was very upset and the thing is that we didn’t know until later what had happened as there were always helicopters coming over our house towards Beaconside.

“It was only when I went on Facebook in the early evening that I found out what had happened and I had to said to a friend on Friday that I’d reported it and said to someone from the council that the kids come out of school and they go straight to that park.

“I said to the person from the council that someone will get killed if that tree comes down and I’m just feeling very angry right now about what has happened.”

A GoFundMe page has been set up by a member of the public to support the family, while tributes have been left on social media.

On the Stafford Borough Police Facebook page, Cara Slinn spoke about holding the teenager and asked for information to help her contact the family.

She wrote: “I held this poor young man in my arms whilst he passed.

“Please can anyone put me in touch with his mum and the others that held and helped him: Kirsty, Rhiannon and Lindsey? I need to speak with them desperately.”

Sharon Hayward spoke about a memorial being made to the boy, saying: “There should be a please give page so people could donate and perhaps have a bench there for in his memory.

“R.I.P for a small boy who had a heart of gold and was trying to warn others from getting hurt.”

A spokesman for Stafford Borough Council said: "Our thoughts are with the family and loved ones in what must be the most terrible time for them.

“We have been liaising with the police and the Health and Safety Executive and will assist them where we can in their ongoing investigation. "