Kaden Reddick: Firms charged over boy's Topshop barrier death
Four firms have been charged over the death of a 10-year-old boy who was killed by a falling queue barrier at a Topshop store.
Kaden Reddick suffered a fatal head injury at the Oracle shopping centre in Reading on 13 February 2017. Reading Borough Council said it had laid safety charges against barrier fitter Stoneforce, the manufacturer Realm, Topshop and its owner Arcadia. An inquest in March concluded that the boy's death was accidental. A witness told the inquest she saw the boy with his arms across the top of the barrier, which doubled as a display unit. Kaden's swinging had caused the 110kg barrier to tip and fall on to his head, the inquest jury heard. Reading Borough Council said earlier it had brought charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. It said: "The laying of these charges follows the coroner's conclusion... that the tragic death... was accidental, arising from an inadequately fixed barrier causing a traumatic head injury." Previously the Crown Prosecution Service said it would not bring a charge of corporate manslaughter, adding that there was not a "realistic prospect" of conviction. In a family statement after his death, Kaden, from Burghfield, was described as "loving, cheeky and energetic".