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Article

8 Sep 2015

Author:
Jess Staufenberg, Independent (UK)

Hugo Boss fined £1.2 million over death of four-year-old killed by falling mirror

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The major fashion company Hugo Boss has been fined £1.2 million for the "wholly avoidable" death of a four-year-old boy when an unfixed mirror crashed down on him in one of its stores.The judge ruled that a systematic failure which "ran to the very top of the company" meant a store was hurriedly opened without proper health and safety checks...As a result, an unfixed 18-stone mirror crashed onto four-year-old Austen Harrison at a store in Bicester Village in Oxfordshire. It caused the toddler huge skull injuries, with doctors unable to save him and his life support being switched off four days later....In a statement the German-based company...said it deeply regretted what had happened. "There are no words the company can use to alleviate in any way the enormous suffering caused to Austen's parents in particular. We offer our most sincere regret and apology." The £1.2 million fine was for the two specific health and safety breaches, while compensation to Austen's family was settled separately in a civil case.