An 80kg mirror that toppled onto Freddie Farrow at a Fenwick store in Colchester, Essex was found to be ‘unsecured’ – prompting investigators from the council to scour the premises
An 8ft mirror that fell on a five-year-old boy and crushed him to death at a department store was “unsecured” at the time, an inquest has heard.
Freddie Farrow was seen on CCTV appearing to use very little force when he touched the mirror before it toppled onto him at the Fenwick store in Colchester, Essex, a detective told jurors. The youngster sustained a traumatic brain injury as a result of the incident on July 27 2021, and tragically died in hospital in Cambridge on August 2, 2021.
Investigator David King, of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), said: “Freddie was fatally injured when an unsecured mirror, 2.6 metres high (8ft 6in) and weighing approximately 80kg (176lb), toppled and fell on him.” He told the hearing in Chelmsford that the mirror was “designed to be at three degrees, so virtually upright”.
The mirrors, which were manufactured in Germany, were installed in 2016 as part of a wider refurbishment Mr King said. “From my understanding from the drawings, the weight (of the mirrors) would be taken by the ground and not the wall,” he said. Two fixing boxes, made of MDF, were on the back of each mirror and there were also metal brackets, he added.
“The purpose wasn’t to hang the mirror, it’s to restrain it into the pillar,” said Mr King, adding that the MDF boxes were held together with PVA, a wood glue. After the incident, investigators from Colchester City Council looked at other mirrors at the store, Mr King said.
He said two of 14 mirrors were found to be suspended, instead of resting on the floor, and nine had some form of distortion to their top fixing boxes. Mr King said two mirrors were found to be “partially resting” on the floor, and two had additional screws in the MDF fixing boxes.
Keith Morton, the barrister representing Fenwick, suggested to Mr King that the incident mirror “would be raised above the floor by 15mm” if the top fixing had been used, based on the location of the upper wall bracket.
Mr King agreed that the mirror would be raised above the floor by 15mm. Mr Morton said: “When this mirror was installed it was wrongly installed, wasn’t it.” Mr King replied: “That appears to be the case, yes.” He also agreed that the “installation wasn’t safe”.
In a series of questions, Mr Morton suggested that the only thing fixing the mirror to the wall had been the top wall bracket that “wasn’t designed to be load bearing”. He also said it “depended for its limited strength on wood glue” on the MDF fixing box, and Mr King said “that appears to be the case”.
The inquest, being heard before a jury, continues.
