UK Athletics Ltd has been fined £350,000 over the 'wholly avoidable' death of a father-of-five Paralympian, who was killed after being struck by part of a collapsed metal cage. United Arab Emirates shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei, 36, suffered life-threatening injuries as he trained for the World Paralympic Athletics Championships at Newham Leisure Centre in east London on July 11, 2017.
Incident Details
The 5ft-high cage, weighing 200kg, toppled onto Mr Hayayei's head after being incorrectly assembled without its base plate, creating what a judge described as an 'accident waiting to happen'. The father-of-five had to be cut free from the netting and was pronounced dead at the scene after police arrived at the leisure centre. He had been training to compete in the F34 class, which features competitors with functional arms but who have difficulties using their legs. The athlete, whose coach Ayman Ibrahim and his assistant Abdula Shaik were mere metres away when the structure collapsed, came sixth at javelin and seventh in shot put at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.
Legal Proceedings
The structure was originally bought for the London 2012 Olympics and was gifted by the Organisation Committee to UK Athletics after the Paralympics in September 2012. UK Athletics, the national governing body for athletics in the UK, pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and was landed on Tuesday with a £350,000 fine, plus £44,000 in costs, to be paid over six years. Keith Davies, 79, head of sport for the 2017 World Paralympic Athletics Championships, admitted a health and safety charge and was handed a community order of 175 hours of unpaid work.
Sentencing, Judge Richards Marks KC said the death of Mr Hayayei, who had cerebral palsy, was 'tragic, untimely and wholly unavoidable'. The judge at the Old Bailey noted failings by UK Athletics were not a 'one off' but said any financial penalty would 'weaken' its ability to support individual athletes and athletics in the community. He told retired PE teacher Davies that he knew, or ought to have known, base plates were an 'integral part' of the cage construction. The incident followed an earlier collapse of an identical cage, leading Davies to be 'on notice', inciting Judge Marks to declare in court: 'This was an accident which sooner or later was waiting to happen.'
Victim's Family Impact
Mr Hayayei's widow Badriah Al-Yahyaei, who attended court by videolink from the UAE, previously described the emotional turmoil her young family has faced after losing the father. She said: 'He was my husband and father of my children. He was very close to me and cared deeply for us and the house. Despite his disability he was able to provide us with a stable life.' She said Mr Hayayei's surviving five children - aged 14, 13, nine, seven, and two at the time of his death - now rely on his brother financially, after seeing their monthly income plummet from £8,000 to £1,800. 'He used to take care of every detail of the house and follow up on the children's studies and needs,' Ms Al-Yahyaei said. 'His presence was very important to us all.'
Safety Failures
The court heard on Tuesday wheelchair user Mr Hayayei was lined up to compete in the para athletics shot-put event at the World Athletics Championships in Stratford. In the five years since UK Athletics acquired two identical cages originally used in the 2012 Olympics, they had never been properly assembled with the plates attached, the court heard. The two practice cages were given to UK Athletics by the organisation committee for the London 2012 Games. One of them had collapsed in 2012 and luckily no one was injured on that occasion, the court heard.
Prosecutor John Price KC said: 'Over this period, very many athletes will have been within the cages and many more standing or passing close by. It was a perennial hazard, or to use a familiar phrase, an accident waiting to happen.' In a statement, Mr Ibrahim, the athlete's coach, said: 'Whilst Abdullah was carrying out the throws, we were surprised by the wind that came all of a sudden and moved the whole cage, causing the bar on the top to fall directly on his head. My assistant and I rushed to help.' Mr Hayayei collapsed immediately after being struck and, despite the efforts of medics, never regained consciousness and died at 7.20pm.
Davies previously claimed UK Athletics had never been supplied with base plates, however this was disproven, the court was told. This came after photos emerged of the base plates for one of the cages being in storage at the London stadium, but were moved after the incident to Cambridge. Those for the collapsed cage were never recovered despite searches. In the wake of the fatal incident, a prohibition notice was put on both the cages barring them from being used. Mr Price said it was a 'remarkable feature' of the case that UK Athletics tried to get the notice lifted on the second cage, which was refused.
Financial Context
According to Sentencing Council guidelines, corporate manslaughter carries a fine of between £180,000 and £20million. UK Athletics racked in an annual revenue with a 'modest profit' of £107,000, according to accounts to March 2025. The organisation is expected to make a loss of £400,000 in the following year, the court heard.
