Property Developer Fined £1 Million After Fatal Window Fall

St James Group Ltd has been fined £1 million after a father-of-two was killed by a window that fell 26 storeys from a luxury building. Mick Ferris, 53, was returning to his coach parked opposite The Corniche in Vauxhall in October 2018 when he was struck by the falling window. His widow, Rachel Ferris, stated that the actions of the property developer killed her husband.

Inner London Crown Court heard that windows at the building were designed to open outwards to prevent them from clashing with ceiling coffers in some apartments. These windows were secured by a single metal restrictor, which the court was told could be dislodged by wind. Astonishingly, a window panel had previously fallen from the same development a year earlier, yet the design was not substantially altered.

"For a window to fall once was quite extraordinary, for it to fall again was simply criminal," prosecutor Gordon Menzies told the court. Specialist facade contractor Lindner Prater was fined £300,000 at the sentencing hearing.

Jurors were informed that designers should have considered the risk associated with outward-opening windows. The luxury building, situated on the River Thames's Albert Embankment, offers panoramic views over the Houses of Parliament. Flats in the building, which includes a gym, pool, and spa, have been listed for sale at £3 million.

St James and Lindner Prater were found guilty of ignoring "foreseeable risks." Luxury architecture firm Foster + Partners and engineering consultants Wintech Ltd were cleared of the same charge. All four firms had been on trial for "failing to discharge a duty" under section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Mrs. Ferris described her husband's death as "so sudden" and "out of the blue," adding that it "could have been prevented." In a statement read in court, she said: "If somebody had done something differently – anything – it would have changed our lives. We wouldn't be in this position. I know it wasn't just one person, but one person could have changed this. One person could have asked 'can't we do this better?'. What those companies did killed my husband."

She paid tribute to her husband, a coach driver who followed in his father's footsteps. Over 400 people attended his funeral, which included a coach bearing his name. "Mick was just minding his own business. One minute there, one minute gone," she said. "The thought this could have happened to anybody is always with me. It could have been a child."

The court heard that the window's design was "not safe" because it opened outwards and was held by a single metal restrictor. Mr. Justice Boyle stated he was not sentencing the firms on the basis that the design itself was unsafe, as such designs were "common within the industry" and there was no Health and Safety Executive (HSE) guidance prohibiting their use. He added that the restrictor, if present and connected, would have prevented detachment.

Judge Boyle said St James should have been more "robust" in "ensuring the critical safety component was present and engaged." He added that Lindner Prater "should have done more to complete and document the risk assessment process." In addition to the fines, both firms were ordered to pay £125,000 each in costs.

HSE principal inspector James Goldfinch commented that Mr. Ferris was a "hardworking man just going about his day." Speaking outside court, he added: "He 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. The reality is that anybody could have been walking past the building that day. Nobody's life should be put in danger due to the clear failings of others."

The prosecution, brought by the HSE, argued that designers had ignored concerns about the proven danger of outward-opening windows. Gordon Menzies, prosecuting, told jurors it was "an accident waiting to happen again." He added that companies have a duty to ensure public safety and that the defendants had a duty to eliminate risk "so far as was reasonably practical." The prosecution stated that the defendants "neither eliminated the risk nor reduced it to as low as was reasonably practical." They "sought to rely on a much more difficult and dangerous approach" rather than a "safe and simple approach."

Jurors heard that the decision to change the design arose from a flaw where inward-opening windows would have clashed with the ceiling coffer in some standard apartments. The wind was sufficiently strong to blow the window open further than 8.5 inches, causing the glass to clash with the frame and detach the hinges. Foster + Partners, responsible for the Corniche's initial designs, was argued by the prosecution to have ignored known risks due to its expertise in glass-covered buildings.

St James assumed the role of "principal designer" in 2015, with a "duty to co-ordinate matters in relation to health and safety." Mitigating for St James, Prashant Popat KC described the incident as a "horrific tragedy and preventable incident" and stated the company was "deeply remorseful and regretful."

Mitigating for Lindner Prater, James Leonard KC said the "fatal accident was almost certainly a consequence of a failure of reinstatement" by a contractor they had hired. He added that it was not possible to determine when this error was made, making it impossible to pinpoint a failure of monitoring or inspection by either defendant.

Spokespeople for Foster + Partners and Wintech expressed their thoughts remained with Mr. Ferris's family and acknowledged the court's decision and the need for continued reflection and industry-wide improvements. A spokesperson for St James reiterated their condolences and stated the company would carefully consider the verdict's implications.