A child was hurt by a falling display at a Topshop store in Glasgow just six days before a 10-year-old was killed by the same type of barrier at a branch in Reading, a jury heard today.
Sir Philip Green's now dissolved Arcadia Group, which owned Topshop when Kaden Reddick was killed, has gone on trial accused of health and safety failings, as have the suppliers of the barrier and the shopfitters who installed it.
Prosecutor James Ageros QC told the jury the schoolgirl's skull fracture in Glasgow should have been a warning to the companies involved but no urgency was applied to the investigation.
Kaden was killed after the 17-stone queue barrier at a Topshop store in the Oracle, Reading, landed on his head on February 13, 2017. The boy had just finished watching a film in a nearby cinema on a family outing at the time of the tragedy.
In another incident 18 months before the tragedy, another customer at a store in Manchester had their foot crushed.
The jury was shown emails between designers and engineers expressing concern for the safety of the barrier's design - but no prototypes were ever made.
Sir Philip Green's now dissolved Arcadia Group, which owned the Topshop chain when Kaden Reddick (pictured) was killed
Mr Ageros said Topshop, which had around 2,150 stores globally at the time, its parent company Arcadia Group, and barrier manufacturers Realm Projects Ltd were culpable for the 3ft tall and 6ft wide barrier landing on Kaden's head.
The barrier's fitters, Stoneforce, have already admitted the health and safety charges, but Topshop, Arcadia and Realm Projects Ltd have denied the charges against them.
The prosecutor said at the opening of the two month trial: 'Kaden Reddick was killed when a queue barrier toppled over and hit his forehead when he was balancing on top of it.
'At the top of the barrier were baskets encouraging shoppers to impulse-purchase. These were items attractive to children. Kaden and his younger sister went close to the barriers and were interested in what was in the baskets.
Showing the jury photographs he continued: 'In the pictures you can see the plinth where the outer barrier was fixed with only two screws - more suitable for hanging pictures on a wall, not holding up a heavy object. It was only these two screws that held the barrier to the floor.
'At no point during that process did anyone calculate what loads it would need to withstand in a busy shopping environment and to keep it secure on the floor.'
The barrister said the health and safety issues were 'not a one off'.
He continued: 'Other barriers in other Topman and Topshop stores were unstable and also presented the risk of collapse.
'Six days before Kaden had died, a similar barrier, this time entirely unfixed, toppled over in a shop in Glasgow and a child suffered serious injuries including a fractured skull.
'While Stoneforce (the fitters) failed to fix the barriers properly, the prosecution case is that its failures are not the only ones in this case. That's why charges have been brought against these other three companies.
Kaden was killed after the 17-stone queue barrier at a Topshop store in the Oracle, Reading, landed on his head on February 13, 2017
