Sir Philip Green's former retail empire Topshop and Arcadia have been fined a total of £1million for health and safety failings after a ten-year-old was crushed by a shop barrier.
Kaden Reddick was fatally injured when the 17-stone queue barrier, which was not properly installed, fell on top of him in a Topshop store.
His devastated mum said they had visited the shop in Reading, Berks, as a treat so Kaden could spend his pocket money.
Heartbroken Lisa Mallett told Reading Crown Court that losing her son in February 2017 had left a “hole that is bottomless so can't be filled”, while her other children’s lives had been “needlessly been torn to pieces”.
“Our lives are completely shattered and even after 265 weeks there is a big empty space. Home no longer feels like home," she added in a victim impact statement.
“I hate that I couldn't protect him. Shopping was meant to be something fun after the cinema so that Kaden could spend his pocket money.”
Topshop/TopMan and its parent company The Arcadia Group were fined a combined total of £1million today after they were unanimously convicted by a jury of failing to properly design, install and inspect the queue barrier.
The barrier's fitters, Stoneforce, had already admitted the same health and safety charges. They were fined a nominal £1,000 after the judge heard that the company had gone into liquidation.
Prosecutor James Ageros said: "Kaden had been playing and when he put some weight on the barrier it fell on top of him as a result of being poorly fitted to the floor.”
He said Stoneforce used “inadequate fittings” which would have been appropriate for putting a picture on a wall but not for a heavy object.
The court heard the incident came just six days after a similar barrier collapsed in a Glasgow branch, leaving a 10-year-old girl with a fractured skull.
Defending Arcadia and Topshop/TopMan, Simon Antrobus told the court the companies had entered administration in 2020, adding: “The fundamental cause of the barrier falling was the type of fixings used.”
Dominic Kay, for Stoneforce, said the shopfitters went out of business after the Arcadia group went into administration.
He added: "Stoneforce wishes to express its remorse and regret to Kaden's family. All I can do is repeat their unreserved apology."
Sentencing, Judge Heather Norton said: "For a child to die on an ordinary day in an ordinary shop must carry a particular pain and shock. The risk these queue barriers possessed should have been, and was, forseen by the defendant companies.
"It was obvious that the barriers, which were top-heavy, needed to be fixed to the floor. It was a heavy item with a high centre of gravity. It should have been obvious it could be pushed over when left free-standing."
Arcadia was fined £650,000 and Topman/Topshop was handed a £350,000 fine.
Had the companies been operating, Arcadia would have been fined more than £1.3 million, and Topshop/TopMan would have been fined £650,000, the judge added.
Stoneforce was fined a nominal £1,000, but would have faced a £700,000 fine if it were still operational.
