Killer window frame was ‘swaying in the wind’

A window frame which crushed a lawyer to death had been propped against a wall because contractors were banned from storing them inside, a court head.

Amanda Telfer, 44, was passing by the building site in Hanover Square in central London when a gust of wind blew over three 13ft-by-13ft wooden structures weighing 655kg.

The three construction companies involved in the project and key staff are accused of ignoring the ‘obvious’ risks to public safety by leaving them outside.

Worried members of the public had noticed the window swaying in the wind, the Old Bailey heard.

Ms Telfer, an intellectual property and media law specialist at Keystone Law near Oxford Street, was pronounced dead at the scene just before midday on 30 August 2012.

Project managers Damian Lakin-Hall, 48, and Claire Gordon, 35, and window installer Kelvin Adsett, 63, are charged with gross negligence manslaughter and breaching a general duty at work.

Steve Rogers, 62, the senior project manager responsible for overseeing health and safety is charged with breaching a general duty at work.

The three companies accused of health and safety failures are the principal contractor Westgreen Construction Ltd, the manufacturer of the window frames Drawn Metal Limited, and the window installers IS Europe Ltd.

Adsett – the boss of IS Europe – explained the frames had been delivered before the apertures were ready.

‘They were kept outside between delivery and installation because Westgreen wouldn’t allow the mini-cranes inside the building,’ he said.

‘Westgreen told us we couldn’t put them inside because the floor would need to be reinforced.’

He said that when he realised the frames were going to be delivered early, he tried to contact the transport manager of the manufacturing company to get the delivery delayed but was unable to get hold of him.

‘I didn’t realise the project had fallen behind schedule and design problems were continually arising – we were delayed because we had technical problems.’

He said they weren’t ready for the frames when they arrived, but they had been forced to unload them anyway.

‘A number of things needed to be done. That area needed to be cleared ready for the operation to start,’ he said.

‘We had to unload them – the lorry was booked in and there were lorries coming behind.’

Adsett and his colleagues were caught on CCTV having a discussion about where to place the windows.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said: ‘It was your decision to put them there.’

Adsett replied: ‘We had a discussion.’

‘But it was your decision to put them there?’ asked Mr Atkinson.

‘I put them there. It wasn’t the first time. The first time [they were stored there] was on 22 August – about a week before.’

Adsett told the court that he had spent most of his career fitting windows, including 20 years working on large housing developments in Germany at one point he even changed his last name to Schultz to get more work.

He founded IS Europe when he returned to the UK, and said that Drawn Metal Ltd was his main client.

Mr Atkinson told the Old Bailey: ‘There was a clear and serious risk posed by these window frames given their weight and size.

‘Indeed it was obvious to anyone they carried a clear and serious risk of death.

‘There were a series of obvious and straightforward steps that could have been taken to avoid that risk.’

Mr Atkinson said the delivery of the windows could have been delayed until they were ready to be installed or stored properly rather than being left overnight on the public pavement leaning against the building.

The frames could also have been strapped down to prevent them falling over, it is claimed.

Mr Atkinson said: ‘There was no proper plan in place for them to be lifted from the delivery vehicle and moved to the building or for them to be stored.

‘The process of unloading the large, heavy framed was undertaken without any measures to restrict the free movement of pedestrians.

‘The window frames were simply left on the public pavement overnight leaning against the building.

‘No efforts had been made to secure them, nor had any barrier been placed around them to protect members of the public using that busy thoroughfare.’

Lakin-Hall, of Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey; Claire Gordon, of Ashby Crescent, Leeds; and Adsett, of New Road, Slough, Berkshire, all deny manslaughter and breaching a general duty at work.

Rogers, of Sheering Mill Lane, Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, denies breaching a general duty of work.

IS Europe Ltd, from Slough, Westgreen Construction Ltd, from Richmond, Surrey, and Leeds-based Drawn Metal Ltd, all deny with breaching general duty of care to an employee and breaching general duty of care to a non-employee.

The trial continues

ends