St James Limited and Lindner Prater Limited have been fined a combined £1.3m after a 130kg window fell from the 26th floor of the Corniche development in London, killing coach driver Mick Ferris.
Ferris, 53, was killed on 2 October 2018 as he returned to his coach, which was parked near the Albert Embankment development. The window fell around 300ft, striking him as he walked below.
St James, part of the Berkeley Group, was the developer, principal contractor and principal designer for the Corniche. Lindner Prater was appointed by St James to design the penthouse windows.
Following a five-week trial, both companies were found guilty of breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. At the Inner London Crown Court on 24 September 2026, St James was fined £1m and ordered to pay £125,000 in costs, while Lindner Prater was fined £300,000 and also ordered to pay £125,000 in costs.
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the windows had been changed during the design process from opening inwards to opening outwards. This meant that if a window detached, it could fall onto the pedestrian area below.
The safety system relied on a single restrictor held by one screw, while the manufacturers had not confirmed that the fittings were suitable for the bespoke curved penthouse windows.
There had also been a warning before the fatal incident. In August 2017, a window left open in windy conditions fell from the same penthouses during construction, narrowly missing two workers. St James subsequently carried out an internal review, but the HSE said concerns identified during that review were not effectively followed up.
The windows were redesigned to open inwards only after Ferris’s death, removing the risk to pedestrians below if a window was left open.
HSE lead inspector Andrew Verrall-Withers said: “Two companies – widely seen as leaders in their fields –failed to respond to an obvious risk and tragically this cost the life of a man simply going about his day.
“Both times a window fell, the wind speeds were not unusually high.
“Even after a window had fallen in 2017, luckily just missing workers below, sufficient attention was not given to assessing the risk of the windows detaching and falling if left open in windy conditions. Too much reliance was placed on adding a small sign to the windows, in effect hoping the residents would not forget to close windows.”
He added: “The construction industry should pay attention to this tragic case. Principal designers need to pay careful attention to clarifying exactly what services architects, designers, and consultants will provide, and then effectively monitor their performance to ensure related risks are identified and coordinate necessary improvements.
“The investigation assessed the involvement of multiple companies, thousands of documents and highly complex technical evidence.”
Mr. Ferris’s widow Rachel said: “Mick was just minding his own business. One minute there, one minute gone.
“The thought this could have happened to anybody is always with me. It could have been a child.
“The fact this could have been prevented, I just can’t explain. If somebody had done something differently – anything – it would have changed our lives.
“I know it wasn’t just one person, but one person could have changed this. One person could have asked ‘can’t we do this better?’”
A spokesperson for St James said: “The death of Mick Ferris in 2018 was tragic. Our thoughts remain with his family and friends. “We acknowledge the court’s sentencing decision and the fine imposed. Safety is of fundamental importance to St James, and remains our highest priority.”
