A mirror which fell and killed a five-year-old boy in a department store was “seemingly well engineered”, a retail manager told an inquest.
Freddie Farrow touched a mirror “with very little force” while looking at his reflection when it toppled onto him at the Fenwick store in Colchester, Essex, on 27 July 2021, a police report stated.
The Gosbecks Primary School pupil died in hospital six days after sustaining a traumatic brain injury.
Ian Francis, an operations manager at the store, told a jury at Essex coroner’s court he had not been made aware of any issues with the mirrors.
The inquest previously heard how the mirrors, weighing 80kg (176lb), were supported by brackets on the wall.
“They were very large and seemingly well engineered,” Mr Francis told the court.
“Had I been made aware of any worries with the mirrors, I would have investigated and alerted my line manager of any issues.”
An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Freddie’s death found other mirrors in the store were installed incorrectly.
Most of their weight should have been resting on the floor, but some were suspended a few millimetres off the ground.
It meant support boxes on the back of the mirrors were taking more weight than they should have.
The family’s barrister, James Trumble, asked Mr Francis if inspections of the mirrors would have changed if he had been aware of the importance of the support boxes.
“Had I been aware there was a requirement they needed to be checked, [then] of course,” Mr Francis responded.
“You just expect the fixing to the wall to be suitable for the environment.”
Senior coroner Lincoln Brookes said the coroner’s service had tried twice to contact the contractor CKM Kondring, which installed the mirrors, without response.
He asked Henrik Pfaffenbach, director of manufacturer Dula UK, why his company had not approached the contractor.
“I don’t know,” Mr Pfaffenbach responded.
Mr Brookes added: “I assume you or Dula are aware of the expert report from the HSE that was critical, and criticised aspects of the installation. Wouldn’t that be something to explore with your contractors who acted on your behalf?”
Mr Pfaffenbach replied: “Yes.”
He added Dula UK had changed its instructions since Freddie’s death.
The inquest continues.
