UK Athletics has been fined £350,000 for the death of Paralympian Abdullah Hayayei, who was killed when a practice throwing cage collapsed on him during a training session in east London in July 2017. The 36-year-old father of five from the United Arab Emirates was preparing for the World Para Athletics Championships at Newham Leisure Centre when the 440lb, 5m-high structure toppled over because it had been set up incorrectly without its base plate.
At the Old Bailey on Tuesday, UK Athletics pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and was ordered to pay the fine plus £44,000 in costs over six years. Judge Richard Marks KC described the death as 'tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable', noting a long-running pattern of unsafe practice with the equipment. He added that a higher penalty would risk weakening UK Athletics' ability to support sport at elite and community level.
The court heard that in the five years after UK Athletics acquired two identical cages originally used in the London 2012 Olympics, they had never been properly assembled with base plates attached. One cage had previously collapsed in 2012 without causing injury. Prosecutor John Price KC called the cages a 'perennial hazard' and 'an accident waiting to happen'. Keith Davies, 79, head of sport for the 2017 championships, admitted a health and safety offence and was given a community order requiring 175 hours of unpaid work.
Hayayei, who had cerebral palsy, was due to compete in the F34 shot put event. He became trapped in netting after the collapse and was pronounced dead later that afternoon despite efforts from coaches and medics. His widow Badriah said in a statement: 'He was a father, a husband with responsibilities, dreams and a future.' Det Ch Insp Lucie Card of the Metropolitan Police said the investigation revealed years of failures in equipment storage and assembly, and that Hayayei's life was 'cruelly cut short by the failings of those who were meant to keep him safe'.
UK Athletics issued an apology, stating that the failings 'should never have happened' and that it has made 'substantial changes' to safety and governance procedures. The organisation said it remains committed to learning from the incident.
