A member of the public was hospitalised after masonry over the “decaying” historic entrance to the Old Bailey crumbled and crashed into the street below.
Part of the façade above the Ceremonial Gates of the centuries-old courthouse in central London broke off shortly before Christmas.
No one was hurt when the stone fell from the building, but a pedestrian was injured after tumbling over debris on the pavement before the area had been cordoned off.
An investigation into the incident has now been launched by the City of London Corporation, which manages the Old Bailey, while it has prompted a public acceptance that funding for the court’s maintenance had been repeatedly delayed over the last decade.
“Immediately after this deeply regrettable incident, for which we have apologised sincerely to the individual, barriers were erected around the Ceremonial Gates entrance and the pedestrian route diverted as a precautionary measure”, a spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said.
“We are carrying out a full investigation and a survey has been commissioned on the Central Criminal Court’s wider façade, ahead of an ongoing Condition Survey and Conservation Management Plan due for completion shortly.”
The Ceremonial Gates are not in daily use for access to the criminal court, but are utilised for the annual opening ceremony attended by the Lord Mayor of London and on occasions of Royal visits.
A court first opened on the site in the 16th Century – then attached to the old Newgate Prison – and the iconic courthouse that stands today in Old Bailey was opened in 1907.
It is the venue where many of Britain’s most notorious criminals have stood trial and faced sentence, including the Kray twins, Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, and in recent years serial killer Stephen Port, PC Wayne Cousins, and the terrorist killers of two MPs.
The last major refurbishment of the historic courthouse was in the 1970s, in the aftermath of a bombing by the IRA.
At a City of London Corporation meeting on Thursday, Alderman Timothy Hailes raised the incident outside the Old Bailey on December 23 last year, and said the stonework is in an “advance state of decay”.
“Members of the general public should be entitled to go about their business in the Square Mile free from the hazard of parts of our heritage buildings falling onto them”, he said.
Calling for urgent action, he raised the “not insignificant” backlog of maintenance across building in the City, including the Old Bailey, saying it had been “created by successive years of kicking the proverbial can down the road”.
More than £46m has been spent on boiler upgrades and infrastructure at the Old Bailey in recent years, but Deputy Christopher Michael Hayward, who chairs the Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee, conceded the court and other City buildings are “suffering from decades of under investment”.
The stonework collapse above the ceremonial entrance happened at around 2.30pm, when masonry came crashing down on to the pavement below.
The member of the public was injured at 2.41pm, at the time that security staff were about to cordon the area off.
The area remains barricaded off, with pieces of masonry on the pavement and visible areas of the façade which have broken.
More than £7 million is due to be signed off shortly for maintenance work at the Old Bailey, including £120,000 for refurbishment of the Ceremonial Gates.
