National Athletics body admits gross negligence in Paralympian tragedy
UK Athletics has pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter following the death of a Paralympian during a training session in London.
The charge relates to the fatal injury of Abdullah Hayayei, a United Arab Emirates Paralympic athlete, at Newham Leisure Centre in east London on 11 July 2017. Mr Hayayei, 36, was practising the shot put ahead of the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships when parts of a metal discus cage collapsed during strong winds and struck his head.
An investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service and the London Borough of Newham’s Health and Safety team found that the stabilising metal lattice base plates of the discus cage were missing. Prosecutors later established that 10 ladder-like metal connectors linking the cage’s bases and posts had been absent or unused between 2012 and 2017.
Expert engineers confirmed that the base was essential to enable the structure to withstand wind forces effectively. Without it, the stability of the five-metre portable free-standing metal cage was significantly reduced.
At the Old Bailey, UK Athletics admitted an offence contrary to section 1 of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007. Keith Davies, 78, of Leytonstone, east London, pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable care for health and safety, contrary to sections 7(1) and 33(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.
Davies, a senior UK Athletics manager and Head of Sport, had been involved in the purchase of the discus cage before the 2012 London Olympics and led its assembly and use until July 2017.
Colin Gibbs, Senior Specialist Prosecutor with the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said UK Athletics had been grossly negligent in its safety management. He stated that the equipment had been left in a seriously unsafe condition and that the death was wholly avoidable.
Prosecutors concluded that up to 200kg of connected metal could move and fall in high winds, creating what they described as an obvious and serious risk of death. The risk was longstanding and could have been prevented by following instructions, using the stabilising base, or preventing the use of the cage without it.
Mr Hayayei, a father of five, died at the scene. The convictions follow a joint investigation by police and local authority health and safety officers.
Sentencing is expected at a later date.