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Journalist dies after Reading car park fall

By Andrew Pugh

A former Reading Post journalist who went on to work for the Mail on Sunday died on Saturday after apparently falling from the top of a car park in Reading town centre.

Allison Gordon worked at the Reading Post during the 1980s as health reporter and chief reporter before joining the Mail on Sunday in 1990. According to the Reading Post, her most recent role was editor of Nursery Management Today.

Police were originally called to Garrard Street car park at 5.15pm on Saturday after receiving reports of a woman leaning over the edge.

Police left the scene 15 minutes later after she gave ‘an explanation with which the officers satisfied”, but returned at 6.56pm after Gordon’s body was discovered.

The case was automatically referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission because police had made contact with her 24 hours before she died, which Thames Valley Police said was standard practice.

A spokesman for the IPCC said: ‘The IPCC received a referral in relation to this case.

‘Following an assessment of the information available, the case was been returned to Thames Valley Police to deal with.

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‘This is because there does not appear to be any information provided to the officers which should give them cause to believe that there was a real and immediate risk to life.”

Mail on Sunday editor Peter Wright said: “Everyone at The Mail on Sunday is deeply saddened to hear of Alison’s tragic death.

“She is remembered with great affection by all her friends and colleagues and we offer our most sincere sympathy to her family.”

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