An eight-year-old girl fell to her death after her mother let her play on the sixth-floor balcony of her home, an inquest heard.

Minnie Rae Dunn, who lived with her grandmother, had been visiting the home of her mother, Rebecca Dunn, in Wingfield Street, Portsmouth when she suffered the fatal fall some time after 6pm on Aug 24 2023.

The hearing was told that the balcony was “cluttered” with about eight bin bags containing old clothes and a cushioned pouffe chair when Minnie Rae had gone out to play on it with another girl.

Giving evidence, Ms Dunn described her daughter as “sassy” and a “good kid”, and said that she would sometimes go on to the balcony when she visited.

The inquest was told that the balcony had a brick-wall about a metre high with anti-pigeon netting above.