Court told of terror as ceiling fell in on 400 children and parents
A COURT has heard how children were injured or fled in terror when a poorly constructed ceiling collapsed at a Small Heath banqueting hall. Birmingham Crown Court heard it was only by “pure chance” there were no serious injuries during the horror scenes at a graduation ceremony packed with 400 people.
Kids, parents and school staff ran for cover or hid under tables after the £300,000 ceiling collapsed at the Al Miraj banqueting hall on July 20, 2017. Three youngsters were among six people hurt but, incredibly, no one was seriously injured.
On Friday, Peter Lakin, who built the ceiling, appeared at court after he previously admitted a charge under the Health and Safety Act.
Jami Mosque and Islamic Centre, owners of the premises, had previously admitted a charge under the Construction, Design and Management regulations.
They will be sentenced at a later date. The court heard the banqueting hall, on Wordsworth Road, had been booked by a primary school for a graduation ceremony.
Around 400 parents, teachers and children, aged between three and 11, had gathered for the event.
“The head teacher was addressing the crowd when the ceiling collapsed upon them,” said Mr Ben Mills, prosecuting. “People are milling around and are panicking trying to find their way to the exit. The collapse was right across the area where people had been sitting at tables.”
He said that some sheltered under tables as around 50 per cent of the whole ceiling came down. “Some children were hurt. It was a shocking and harrowing incident,” said Mr Mills. He said that in 2013, the venue owners decided to improve the appearance of the main conference room. Jami Mosque and Islamic Centre Ltd appointed Peter Lakin, a specialist ceiling contractor, to carry out the ceiling work, and he provided a quote for £290,000. Mr Mills said that according to the regulations the owners should have appointed a principle contractor and designer.
“They accept that this failure contributed to poor planning, monitoring and managing of the project,” he said. “There was no risk assessment for this project at all.”
The new ceiling was finished in 2015 and was then left in an “unsafe condition” until the collapse. “It is clear that the pre-existing ceiling had been overburdened by the weight of the new ceiling attached to it,” Mr Mills said.
Mr Tim Pole, for the company, which is a charity, said: “The failure was that he (Lakin) did not put the ceiling up properly.” He said the company had had to pay an additional £621,000 for the works to be corrected. ‘‘There were no deaths or serious injuries and not even a hospital admission,” he said.
The sentencing hearing adjourned to a later date.
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