Boyfriend Convicted Over Teenager's 40-Foot Fall from Solihull Tower Block
A boyfriend has been found guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm after his teenage girlfriend plunged nearly 40 feet from a tower block window in Solihull. Jordan Herring, 22, was convicted at Birmingham Crown Court in relation to the horrific incident that occurred in November 2022.
Chilling Details of the Chelmsley Wood Incident
The court heard how Herring's 18-year-old girlfriend fell from the fourth floor of Merton House in Chelmsley Wood at approximately 11.22pm on November 12, 2022. Chilling CCTV footage captured the moment the teenager plummeted from the residential tower block, landing on a grass verge just inches from the concrete pavement below.
Prosecutors argued that Herring had either pushed or thrown his girlfriend from the window, though he was cleared of more serious charges including attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent. The court convicted him on the basis that while he caused the fall, he did not intend to cause serious harm.
Victim's Harrowing Injuries and Delayed Emergency Response
The teenage victim suffered catastrophic injuries in the fall, including collapsed lungs, a ruptured spleen, a cut to her liver, and multiple fractures to her ribs, spine and pelvis. Remarkably, she avoided serious head injury despite the significant height of the fall.
Emergency services were not called for over an hour after the incident. Instead, Herring and his mother Kerrie-Anne Grogan, whose flat the couple had been staying in, were seen on CCTV picking up the injured teenager from where she had landed, wrapping her in a blanket, and carrying her back upstairs before eventually contacting authorities.
The critically injured teenager was airlifted to hospital where she required a blood transfusion and remained in critical condition. She was discharged approximately one week later, having survived the life-threatening ordeal.
Previous History and Court Proceedings
During the trial, the court heard that Herring had previously been found guilty of coercive and controlling behaviour against the same victim. The victim recalled Herring holding her against a window at Merton House and threatening "I will throw you out, I will kill you," though her memory was blank regarding what happened immediately afterward.
Herring had claimed in his defence that his girlfriend climbed out of the window herself and fell after they had argued about cheating allegations. However, the jury rejected this version of events and found him guilty based on the prosecution's evidence.
The 22-year-old from Solihull has already been remanded into custody and is scheduled to be sentenced in April for the grievous bodily harm conviction. The case has highlighted serious concerns about domestic violence and coercive control in relationships.
