The owners of Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel, where 21-year-old Chloe Haynes died after being crushed by a falling wardrobe, have been charged with 20 health and safety offences
The owners of a hotel where a young woman died after being crushed by a falling wardrobe have been charged with 20 offences.
Chloe Haynes, 21, was found dead in her hotel room at Liverpool’s Adelphi Hotel on September 10, 2022. Her mum, Nicola Williams, said at the time that she was determined to piece together “every detail” about how her “beautiful” daughter – whom she nicknamed “Birdy” – lost her life in such tragic circumstances.
After the case was brought before Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning, Britannia Hotels Ltd, which operates the Adelphi Hotel, was charged with a total of 20 health and safety offences under the names of two limited companies. The prosecution was brought by Liverpool City Council.
While details of each of the 20 counts were not read out in full in court, the Liverpool Echo has seen charge sheets outlining the allegations against Britannia Hotels.
They allege that the safety of employees, non-employees, Chloe Haynes and Valencia Verdin – a three-year-old girl who was injured after a cabinet fell on her at the hotel in August last year – was put at risk. This was allegedly due to a failure to “secure windows in guest rooms with appropriate control measures to prevent them from opening too far” and to secure “wardrobes to prevent them from toppling over” in six different hotel rooms. There are similar allegations relating to a cabinet in another room.
The charges relate to a period between January 2021 and August 2025, according to the outlet.
Keith Morton KC, representing Britannia Hotels, told the court his client would be indicating no plea during today’s brief hearing. The case was sent to Liverpool Crown Court, with a plea and trial preparation hearing scheduled for June 4.
Adjourning the case, District Judge Paul Healey said: “There are a number of charges contrary to the Health and Safety Act 1984. Because a plea has not been indicated, I have to consider whether a trial can take place in the magistrates’ court or whether it should be sent to the crown court for a trial to take place.
“I should consider the nature of the allegation and the likely sentence if a conviction were to follow. I have to consider the complexity, the background and the nature of the evidence. In the event of a not guilty plea, the trial should take place before a judge and jury at the crown court.
“I am going to send all of the charges to Liverpool Crown Court to be tried and confirm a plea and trial preparation hearing in 28 days’ time. On that date, it is expected that a plea will be entered to the respective charges.”
Chloe, who had a twin brother and three other siblings, had travelled to Liverpool from Hafan y Mor Haven Holiday Park in Pwllheli, North Wales, where she worked, for a night out. She was sharing a room at the hotel with a colleague, who found her and raised the alarm.
Ms Williams, from Wrexham, previously told the Liverpool Echo: “Chloe left Pwllheli around 7.40pm and they went to the Adelphi, there was some sort of engagement party or something.
“By midnight, she had been drinking shots and so on and she was a bit drunk, so her friend has taken her back to the hotel to sleep it off, and then he’s gone back out.
“It seems she has got up out of the bed confused, not knowing where she is, and she’s opened the door of the wardrobe maybe thinking it is the toilet or the door to go back out of the room. It was a big, old, heavy wardrobe and it’s fallen on her and crushed her windpipe.”
Ms Williams said Chloe’s friend returned to the room in the early hours and raised the alarm. Two men from other rooms came to help lift the wardrobe off Chloe, but it was too late to save her.
The three men were initially questioned over Chloe’s death but were later released with no further action after the circumstances became clear. Merseyside Police confirmed Chloe’s death was being treated as “accidental”.
Describing her daughter, Ms Williams said: “She loved animals, she had a little dog called Archie who she was obsessed with. There are so many photos of them together.
“My little nickname for her was ‘Birdy’. She was so petite and little, and when she ate she was like a little bird.”
She added: “She was beautiful, but she had struggled with confidence about herself so she didn’t really know how beautiful she was and that made her beautiful on the inside as well. She was very kind.”
