Did he ever get to the park? Police piece together tragic Conley’s last moments

POLICE are trying to piece together the last movements of seven-year-old Conley Thompson as it emerged a security firm was pulled off the building site where he died just ten days before the youngster went missing.
Picture shows police activity around a building site on Bank End Road in Worsbrough, Barnsley. Picture: Ross Parry AgencyPicture shows police activity around a building site on Bank End Road in Worsbrough, Barnsley. Picture: Ross Parry Agency
Picture shows police activity around a building site on Bank End Road in Worsbrough, Barnsley. Picture: Ross Parry Agency

Detectives know Conley left his home on Underwood Avenue in Worsbrough Dale, Barnsley, shortly after 6pm on Sunday after telling his mother he was going out to play with friends without saying specifically where he was going.

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Questions every parent will ask after tragedy of seven year-old Conley Thompson

The youngster was found dead the following morning after becoming stuck in a vertical pipe at a construction site at nearby Bank End Road.

South Yorkshire Police now believes reports Conley had gone to play with friends at a local park may have been inaccurate.

Yesterday Det Chief Inspector Dave Stopford said: “Initial suggestions at the time indicated Conley may have gone to Locke Park. However, and as the investigation continues, we now believe he may not have met up with friends and potentially ventured elsewhere before he went to the construction site, where he was sadly discovered yesterday morning.

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“We need to piece together Conley’s last movements to be able to understand what may have led him to the construction site and to include as much information as possible in the file we are preparing for the coroner.”

Police at the entrance to a building site in Bank End Road, Worsbrough, Barnsley,  where the body of 7 year old Conley Thompson was foundPolice at the entrance to a building site in Bank End Road, Worsbrough, Barnsley,  where the body of 7 year old Conley Thompson was found
Police at the entrance to a building site in Bank End Road, Worsbrough, Barnsley, where the body of 7 year old Conley Thompson was found

Meanwhile it emerged that a security firm had stopped working at the building site on July 16.

Peter Taylor, who said he was a manager at Security Guards UK, told The Yorkshire Post: “When we were there we had reported the perimeter was not secure. There were children trying to come on to the site and we were stopping them.

“We were pulled off immediately without any notice, we then reiterated the issues.”

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Mr Taylor said the security firm was employed by a company called Piletec, based in Rotherham, which had been working at the site.

Conley ThompsonConley Thompson
Conley Thompson

Managing director Mick Lopia confirmed it had employed Security Guards UK to protect its equipment and the security firm would have finished on around 16 July. The site is owned by Leeds-based firm Erris Homes, and construction is being carried out by Howard Civil Engineering.

A spokesperson for the engineering company said: “We are co-operating fully with the police investigation into this tragic incident. While this continues, we are unable to comment further.”

Police have previously said the site was found to be securely locked with a large perimeter fence.

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Earlier, Conley’s grandmother Deborah Fraser paid tribute to him as “a lovely little lad” with a “smile that could light up a room”.