Artisan bakery chain Gail’s must pay fines and costs of £12,000 after a woman buying cakes for her 68th birthday party fell down an open trapdoor in one of its shops, fracturing her pelvis.
Sally Nicolet plunged 8ft down the cellar hatch next to a food display in the Fulham Road branch.
Hammersmith magistrates’ court heard a staff member brought her cakes as she lay seriously injured on the floor of the storeroom. She spent five days in hospital, has difficulty walking, and has been unable to return to work. She is suing the bakery firm for damages.
In the separate health and safety prosecution last week, Gail’s Ltd admitted failing to protect customers on April 25 last year. The 107cm x 67cm hatch had been left open following a delivery. A staff member who had been guarding it left his post to serve a customer, the Hammersmith magistrates heard.
Prosecutor Sue Obeney, representing Kensington and Chelsea council, said a witness described the gaping hole, which had no barrier, as “an accident waiting to happen”. She added: “[The witness] noticed the open hatch; for whatever reason Ms Nicolet had not ... staff were unable to warn her of the hole before she plunged down it.”
Ms Obeney said staff had ignored the firm’s risk assessment by using the hatch during operational hours.
Mike Atkins, defending Gail’s, said: “The company is extremely sorry. A civil claim has been brought and liability admitted. She will be compensated.”
He said it was a “poor decision” to have the hatch open. Gail’s has installed a new safety barrier, provided more training, and redesigned the bakery so there is no need to access the hatch to get to the storeroom, he added.
Magistrates fined Gail’s £8,000 and ordered it to pay costs of £3,894 and a victim surcharge of £120.
After the hearing, managing director Tom Molnar said: “It was an honest mistake. We took her cakes in hospital and tried to help her as much as possible.”
Ms Nicolet, who runs a vintage clothing business, could not be reached for comment.
