Two companies have been fined a total of £۱.۳m over health and safety breaches after a coach driver was killed by a falling window pane.
Mick Ferris, ۵۳, was crushed when a window fell ۲۶ storeys from the Corniche, a luxury development in Vauxhall, London, on ۲ October ۲۰۱۸.
Property developer St James Group Ltd was fined £۱m and specialist facade contractor Lindner Prater was fined £۳۰۰,۰۰۰ at a sentencing hearing at Inner London crown court on Thursday. Both firms were also ordered to pay costs of £۱۲۵,۰۰۰ each.
In August, the firms were found guilty of ignoring “foreseeable risks” and convicted of “failing to discharge a duty” under the Health and Safety at Work Act ۱۹۷۴.
Ferris, who was a driver for Clarkes of London, had been returning to his coach when the window pane, which weighed ۱۳۰kg and was roughly ۸۵cm wide and ۱۹۰cm tall, fell from around ۹۰ metres (۳۰۰ft).
During the trial, the court heard that a window panel had previously fallen from the same development in August ۲۰۱۷, but that the design had not subsequently significantly changed.
The Corniche, located on Albert Embankment alongside the Thames, features panoramic views over the Houses of Parliament. Luxury flats in the building – containing a gym, pool and spa – have been listed for sale at £۳m.
Ferris’s widow, Rachel, said his death “could have happened to anybody” and “could have been prevented”.
In a statement read out in court, she said: “If somebody had done something differently – anything – it would have changed our lives. One person could have asked: ‘Can’t we do this better?’ What those companies did killed my husband.
“Mick was just minding his own business. One minute there, one minute gone. The thought this could have happened to anybody is always with me. It could have been a child.”
The trial heard the design of the window in the Corniche was not safe because it opened outwards and was held in place by a single metal restrictor, so could be prised off by the wind.
Mr Justice Boyle said he was not sentencing the firms on the basis of the design itself being unsafe as they were “common within the industry” and there was no Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance prohibiting their use.
The judge said St James should have been more robust in “ensuring the critical safety component was present and engaged”.
Speaking outside court, HSE principal inspector James Goldfinch said Ferris “lost his life due to the failings of two leading companies in their field. The fact lessons had not been learnt from a near-miss the year before makes what happened on that day all the more galling.
“For a window to fall once was quite extraordinary; for it to fall again was simply criminal.
A spokesperson for St James said: “The death of Mick Ferris in ۲۰۱۸ was tragic. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends. We acknowledge the court’s sentencing decision and the fine imposed.”
