Two companies have been fined more than £1.5 million over the death of a five-year-old girl who died, as her mother speaks of her 'unimaginable loss'.
Alexys Brown, known as Lexi, died from 'horrific' head and neck injuries after becoming stuck between the lift and the ceiling of her home in Weymouth, Dorset in August 2015.
Housing association Synergy Housing Ltd, which owned the property where Alexys lived with her family, was fined £1 million.
Maintenance contractor Orona Ltd, which was responsible for servicing and maintaining the lift, was fined £533,000.
Alexys Brown, known as Lexi, who died from 'horrific' head and neck injuries after becoming stuck between the lift and the ceiling of her home in Weymouth, Dorset
The family told Health and Safety Executive investigators there had been ongoing problems with the lift (pictured) since they moved in
Lorraine Brown, the mother of Alexys Brown, with Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector Leo Diez, reads a statement outside Bournemouth Crown Court
Mother Lorraine Brown described the last three years as 'unimaginable'.
She said: 'Hold your children a little tighter, love your family a little harder because you never know when you might not be able to anymore.'
'The loss of Alexys has impacted our lives and our children's lives immensely,' she said.
'Nothing can ever bring Alexys back to us. The fines to us are irrelevant. All we ever wanted was an apology from Synergy and we got that.
'Alexys was a loving, carefree and angelic little girl who was full of energy, love and laughter.
'I hope that what has happened to our family sheds light on others in order to avoid anything like this ever happening again.
'We are now looking forward in raising our children with memories, photos, videos and stories of their sister.'
Firefighters had to cut Alexys free because there was no emergency key or handle to manually free her, the court heard. Picture shows police outside her home following her death
Mrs Brown, who was accompanied by her husband Matthew, added: 'Hold your children a little tighter and love your family a little harder. You never know when you won't be able to anymore.'
Bournemouth Crown Court heard the incident happened when Alexys' older brother, who is a wheelchair user, asked her to go upstairs to get his mobile phone.
As the little girl went up on the platform lift she was able to put her head through a hole in the Perspex door panel, which had not been repaired - allowing her to get trapped.
The children's grandmother, who was looking after them, heard the boy shouting and rushed to the scene. She tried freeing her granddaughter but was unable to and called the emergency services.
Firefighters had to cut Alexys free because there was no emergency key or handle to manually free her, the court heard.
Sadly Alexys couldn't be saved and she died at the scene from head and neck injuries.
The Brown family moved into the three-bedroom property in 2009 because it already had the lift installed and would be of assistance to their disabled son.
They told Health and Safety Executive investigators there had been ongoing problems with the lift since they moved in, including the doors not opening. By May 2015 the Perspex door panel was damaged and should have been repaired or replaced.
Diagram of how the lift operated from its original manual
The lift should have been serviced every six months and subjected to a 'thorough examination' twice yearly by a third party insurer.
That examination was last carried out in 2012 after Synergy told the insurance company the lift had been removed.
Orona had twice quoted Synergy a price to replace the lift but the housing association did not approve the work as it was investigating the building of a ground floor extension instead.
Mrs Brown told Bournemouth Crown Court yesterday that her other children had been left 'broken' by the devastation caused by Alexys' death.
She said: 'The heartache and emotion they have had to face of losing their sister and best friend and the circumstances of her death make it impossible.
'My son Jack had to witness something people wouldn't even be able to have nightmares about.
'He is receiving treatment for PTSD, he doesn't sleep or eat. He carries a huge amount of guilt he just cannot let go of. What he witnessed we can only imagine.
'We believed Alexys was sent to us for a reason at a time when we were given a horrible diagnosis with Jack.
'Alexys' arrival gave Jack something to look forward to. She was and is his guardian angel. She gave him a reason to fight, to be, to live and that reason has gone, along with his fight.
'Our life is never sleeping due to thousands of what ifs and why didn't Is. The silence is deafening, every day getting worse. As time goes by we just miss her more.
'We should have been able to protect her and that was taken away from us. It's just heartbreaking.'
At a previous hearing both companies pleaded guilty to a single charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Dominic Kay QC, for Synergy, said: 'Synergy accepts wholeheartedly its failings. It is important to understand the feelings of regret and remorse felt at Synergy.'
James Ageros QC, representing Orona, expressed his 'sincere regret and condolences' to Alexys' family.
'Nothing I say is meant to detract from the human tragedy of this case,' he added.
Passing sentence, Judge Stephen Climie listed several failings, including a failure to ensure the proper maintenance and repair of
