Girl hit by falling mirror in high street store

A high street store has been fined after a five-year-old girl suffered serious personal injuries when a mirror fell and hit her on the head.

The traumatic incident took place at a retail store in Kingston upon Thames when the girl had been shopping with her mother. A 7ft mirror, weighing around 70kg fell from where it was hanging on the wall and landed on the girl's head.

The accident caused the girl to suffer injuries to her skull and face as well as damage to her teeth. The personal injuries have been described as being potentially life changing.

Richmond Magistrates' Court heard that the mirror, which had been designed to be moved around the store, had not been fitted correctly and that a similar accident had taken place at the Crawley branch in 2007 when a three-year-old was injured.

The store admitted four breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £49,200 and ordered to pay £8,233 in court costs.

It has not been reported whether the personal injury victim will be pursuing an accident compensation claim through the civil courts.