Man jailed after lawyer crushed to death by falling window frames from Mayfair construction site

A man has been jailed after a lawyer walking past a construction site in Mayfair died when three window frames fell on her.

Amanda Telfer , 43, was crushed to death on August 30, 2012, when the large unsecured frames toppled over.

Kelvin Adsett, 64, of New Road, Slough, Berkshire was sentenced to 12 months behind bars for manslaughter and nine months for offences contrary to the Health and Safety Work Act.

He was previously convicted at the Old Bailey in March this year.

The woman was walking along the pavement past a construction site in Hanover Square when three unglazed window frames, together weighing 655kg, fell on her.

She died at the scene from massive crush injuries.

The window frames had been left overnight, leaning against the building, and no efforts were made to secure them nor a barrier placed around them.

It is believed the door in the building blew open in the wind, hitting the frames and causing them to topple.

A worker inside tried to grab them but they fell, crushing the woman underneath.

Several members of the public came to help and together they managed to lift the frames off her.

However, she was unconscious and not breathing.

Police, the London Ambulance Service and London's Air Ambulance attended but she died at 11:57am.

Following the verdict, Barry and Ann Telfer, her parents, said: "Amanda was a bright lovely professional woman living her life to the full and making plans for the future.

"Her future was taken from her when she was crushed to death by half ton window frames which took two seconds to fall on her.

"The frames had been left standing, almost vertically, at the side of a public pavement, unsecured to anything, unattended and with no safety barriers around them.

"If construction companies and the people who work for them are not held to account for such high levels of negligence and incompetence then none of us is safe walking the streets next to construction sites.

"The health and safety training being given is totally inadequate, if risk of death to passers-by is ignored.

"We and all Amanda's family and friends will always miss her. Nothing will change that."

Damian Lakin-Hall, 50, of Portsmouth Road, Cobham, Surrey was convicted of offences contrary to Section 7a of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

He was given a six-month suspended sentence, suspended for two years.

Lakin-Hall told officers at the scene the frames had been secured to the wall with a ratchet strap - evidence showed that had never been the case.

Company IS Europe Ltd of Slough, Berkshire, was convicted of offences under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

It was fined £100,000 but the court heart their accounts contained only £250.

Keep up to date with the latest news from around the county via the free Get Surrey app.

You can set up your app to see all the latest news and events from your area, plus receive push notifications for breaking news.

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android .