Bury St Edmunds family’s anger after housing association destroys son’s toys

A family from Bury St Edmunds have criticised a housing association for taking and destroying their 10-year-old son’s toys from outside their home.

Mandy Smith, 37, of St Olaves Road, said she had left a box of outdoor toys belonging to her autistic son Dominic under the stairs in the hallway of a block of flats she shares with her partner Anthony Tyler, 44.

But on Monday she noticed they had gone and called Havebury Housing to find out what had happened. They told her the toys had been removed and crushed.

“First of all we thought they had been stolen, she said.

“Usually we would get a note through the door if anything was causing a fire risk, but we got nothing this time.

“Dominic has special needs and needs routine. We now have a very upset 10-year-old on our hands.”

Philip Sullivan, Director of Operations, said: “Havebury recently carried out a fire risk assessment at St Olaves and identified a number of objects including a swing ball base and bicycle parts causing a hazard in the communal stairwell.

“As safety is paramount to our residents, attempts were made to identify the owners but were unsuccessful and the items were cleared immediately to remove the hazard.

“We apologise that notice was not provided and regret that our actions have caused distress to their young son.

“We will be contacting the family in an effort to address this matter.