Contractors’ court appearance over 2018 tower death delayed

By Gino Spocchia

A criminal case brought against facade firm Lindner Prater, contractor Winvic and two other companies over the death of a man hit by a window falling from a building has been adjourned.

The firms were due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court earlier this week (29 October) to face charges related to a fatal incident outside the Corniche development in Vauxhall, south London, six years ago.

Lindner Prater and Winvic have been charged with a breach of section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which protects people not employed on a job from “risks to their health or safety”.

Also facing the same charge are the scheme’s developer St James, a subsidiary of Berkeley, and architecture firm Foster & Partners.

But the first hearing in the case has now been adjourned until 9 January, Construction News’ sister title Architects’ Journal has reported. No reason was given for the postponement.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) announced the charges last month, alleging a health and safety breach following the death of a 50-year-old man outside the 27-storey south London scheme.

The Metropolitan Police said at the time of the incident that the victim – Kent coach driver Mick Ferris – was killed when an object fell from the upper levels of the Corniche development on Albert Embankment.

Photographs posted on social media at the time appeared to show a smashed window in its frame next to the man on the floor outside the scheme.

The Corniche was completed in 2018 next door to an RSHP tower, dubbed Merano, which replaced the 1958 Eastbury House.

The AJ reported in 2018 that the Corniche development had been redesigned in 2017 during the construction phase after a casement window fell from an upper floor. No one was hurt in that incident.