Fines over woman banker killed in health club lift

Holmes Place Health Clubs was fined almost £250,000 yesterday after admitting a woman banker was crushed to death by a gym lift.

By The Newsroom

Published 14th May 2010, 22:56 BST

Updated 14th May 2010, 22:56 BST

Too much had gone wrong for too long with the lift at Broadgate Health Club in the City of London before it dropped on March 12 2003, killing Polish-born Katarzyna Woja, 32, Southwark Crown Court in London was told.

Holmes Place and Thyssen-Krupp Elevator UK, one of the world's leading lift firms, were fined 233,000 each over health and safety breaches.

The lift dropped the day before the tragic accident and had allegedly been repaired, the court was told. It is thought there was either a hydraulic problem or a fault with the the lift's programmable controller.

Judge Deborah Taylor said there was a "culture of complacency" and "systemic failures" on the parts of both defendants.

London