UK Athletics is facing a seven-figure fine after pleading guilty to corporate manslaughter in the death of a Paralympian who was hit on the head by a metal pole while preparing for the London World Para Athletics Championships in 2017.
The incident occurred at Newham Leisure Centre when the pole, which was attached to a throwing cage, fell on Abdullah Hayayei while he was training. Emergency services were called to the venue but the 36-year-old from the United Arab Emirates was pronounced dead at the scene 20 minutes later.
On Friday morning, UKA attended court in London and changed its plea to corporate manslaughter to guilty. At the same hearing this morning, Keith Davies, the head of sport for the championships and the co-defendant in the case, entered a guilty plea to the health and safety offence he has been charged with. As a result, the gross negligence manslaughter case against him will not be proceeded with. Both UKA and Davies will be sentenced by the court at a later date.
In a statement UKA said: “UK Athletics deeply regrets that the incident in July 2017 resulted in the tragic loss of Abdullah Hayayei’s life. Our deepest thoughts and sympathy remain with his family, friends, teammates and all those affected by the events of that day.
“As you will appreciate, due to the ongoing court proceedings UK Athletics is unable to comment any further at this time.”
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UK Athletics is seen as a medium-sized organisation under the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act of 2007, and the nature of the offence means that it faces a fine of between £1.2m and £5m. However, there can be deductions to the fine if the offence is admitted before trial.
The fine will come as a significant financial blow to UKA, which was facing bankruptcy two years ago before an events partnership with the London Marathon and the Great Event company, along with a significant investment by its kit sponsor Nike, helped it recover.
Hayayei had been preparing to participate in the F34 shot put, discus and javelin events at London 2017. At the Rio 2016 Paralympics, he finished sixth in the javelin F34 and seventh in the shot put F34. The father of five finished fifth in the discus and eighth in shot put at the 2015 world championships in Doha.
UKA’s guilty plea at the Old Bailey follows an investigation by the Metropolitan police and the London Borough of Newham’s health and safety team, which found that the stabilising metal lattice base plates of the discus cage were missing.
In a statement the Crown Prosecution Service said that the components – 10 ladder-like metal connectors linking the cage’s bases and posts – had been missing or unused for around five years, between 2012 and 2017, significantly reducing stability and meaning it did not resist wind forces effectively.
“UK Athletics owned the discus cage and was responsible for its safety at its events,” it said. “Davies … was involved in the purchase of the cage before the 2012 London Olympics and led its assembly and use until July 2017.”
Colin Gibbs, senior specialist prosecutor with the CPS Special Crime Division, said: “Abdullah Hayayei was a father of five who should have been able to compete on the world stage and return home safely to his family.
“There can be no doubt that UK Athletics were grossly negligent in their safety management, which caused the death of a talented athlete.
“They left equipment in a seriously unsafe condition, and Mr Hayayei’s death was wholly avoidable – a fact the organisation has admitted.
“For years there was a failure to inspect, maintain and properly manage basic safety components, leaving a heavy metal structure dangerously unstable.”
