Kaden Reddick death: Boy died as mother paid at Topshop till

A boy died when a queue barrier fell on his head as his mother was paying at the till of a Topshop store, an inquest has heard.

Kaden Reddick, from Reading, had been shopping in the town with his mother, siblings and grandmother when he suffered serious injuries on 13 February.

The 10-year-old child was taken to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, but was later pronounced dead.

Detective Inspector Dave Turton said the fatal incident happened as Kaden's mother, Lisa Cooper Mallet, was paying at the till.

At the opening of the inquest, Mr Turton said: "A display described as a queue barrier which he was stood next to fell over and struck him in the head.

"And unfortunately this resulted in injuries that were fatal."

After the incident at the Oracle shopping centre, Topshop recalled all display stands at tills as a safety precaution, the inquest was told.

The clothing stores were closed and not reopened until the displays had been taken down, including in international shops such as those in the US and Canada.

"All of those queue barriers now have been removed from all the stores," the officer said.

After his death, Kaden's family paid tribute to the "creative" boy, who loved to swim.

They said: "Kaden was a loving, cheeky, energetic boy whose death will leave a huge empty hole in the lives of everybody that knew him. Our house feels empty without him."

Senior coroner Peter Bedford adjourned the inquest at Berkshire Coroner's Court for three months, when he said he will check the status of the police inquiries.