Hugo Boss fined over Bicester Village death

Luxury fashion retailer Hugo Boss has been fined 1.2 million pounds for health and safety breaches following the death of a four-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a mirror in its Bicester Village outlet store.

Austen Harrison suffered "irreversible" brain damage after the large mirror fell on top of him inside the Hugo Boss outlets changing-room in June 2013.

Oxford Crown Court ruled that that the 18 stone mirror had "negligently been left free-standing without any fixings,” with the judge, Peter Ross stating that, “it would have been obvious to the untrained eye” that the mirror posed a risk.

Hugo Boss pleaded guilty to the related health and safety charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and the Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.

Representing Hugo Boss, Jonathan Laidlaw QC said: “The consequence of this failing is as awful as one could reasonably imagine. Since the day of the accident, Hugo Boss has done all it can, first to acknowledge those failings, to express genuine, heartfelt remorse and also demonstrate a determination to put things right and ensure there cannot be a repeat of what went wrong.”