Higgins Homes and Four Workers Face Trial Over Death of Mother Killed by Falling Bricks in East London

A court has heard how a young mother was fatally injured when a pallet of bricks plunged from a tower crane onto a pavement in east London, striking her on the head as she walked past a construction site on the school run.

Michaela Boor, 29, was walking along Burdett Road in Bow on the morning of 27 March 2018 when the load fell. The impact fractured her skull and caused what prosecutors described as catastrophic brain injuries. She was treated at the scene before being taken to the Royal London Hospital, but doctors were unable to save her, and she died two days later on 29 March.

The case is now being heard at the Old Bailey, where Higgins Homes is on trial facing a charge of corporate manslaughter and a separate health and safety offence. Four construction workers contracted by the company are accused of the same offences. Both the firm and the four men deny the allegations.

Opening the prosecution case on Monday, Alexandra Healy KC told jurors that Ms Boor had been heading towards some shops with a friend, Chelsea Mustafa, when the bricks came down. Their route took them past a development being built by Higgins Homes plc, the court heard.

The prosecutor explained that a pallet of bricks was being moved by a tower crane towards a loading bay positioned immediately next to the pavement along Burdett Way. As the load was being hoisted, it caught on scaffolding, causing the bricks to break free and fall towards the street below.

According to the prosecution, the crane operator had only a restricted view of the load, and the lifting operation became what was described as a blind lift once the pallet moved entirely out of his line of sight. The court was told that this loss of visibility was central to the danger posed to people below.

Ms Healy said Ms Mustafa ran into the road to escape the falling debris. Although she was struck on the back and hand by some of the bricks, she managed to avoid the bulk of the load. Ms Boor, however, did not make it clear of the pavement and was hit directly by the falling bricks.

Jurors heard that Higgins Homes acted as both principal contractor and designer for the project, which involved building a block of flats. The prosecution alleges that no risk assessment had been carried out for lifting pallets of bricks so close to members of the public, and that the company had failed to consider the safety of people outside the site boundaries.

"Higgins Homes failed to give proper consideration to the protection of the public," Ms Healy told the court, setting out the central plank of the prosecution's case against the firm.

The trial also focuses on the roles played by four individuals contracted by Higgins Homes. Thomas Anstis, 69, of Banstead in Surrey, served as senior site manager and temporary work co-ordinator, with responsibility for running the building site and overseeing the work of subcontractors. The prosecutor claimed there was evidence that he cut corners in order to save cost.

Stephen Coulson, 69, of Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire, was a director of Coulson Lifting Services and held responsibility for lifting services. The court heard that he was not present at the site on the day of the incident. Dawood Maan, 61, of Ashford in Kent, was the crane supervisor tasked with overseeing and supervising lifting operations on the site. Alexander McInnes, 34, of Islington in north London, was the crane operator.

All four men, along with the company, deny the charges against them. The trial continues, and jurors are expected to hear further evidence about the lifting operation, the safety arrangements in place at the site, and the respective responsibilities of the defendants.

The case has highlighted longstanding concerns about safety on construction sites in busy urban areas, particularly where heavy lifting takes place close to public footpaths. Industry guidance generally requires that lifting operations near members of the public be subject to detailed risk assessment, with exclusion zones and alternative routes considered where necessary.

Legal observers note that corporate manslaughter prosecutions are relatively rare and require the Crown to show that an organisation's management of health and safety amounted to a gross breach of a relevant duty of care. The outcome of this trial may therefore be studied closely by construction firms and safety regulators alike.

For the family of Michaela Boor, the proceedings at the Old Bailey represent a long-awaited opportunity to establish how a routine morning walk ended in tragedy. The court has been told she was simply walking to the shops with a friend when the bricks fell, a sequence of events that prosecutors argue was avoidable had proper precautions been taken.

As the trial progresses, the jury will weigh the evidence against both the company and the individual defendants, each of whom denies responsibility. The case continues at the Old Bailey.