Sainsbury’s fined £1m after ‘booby trap’ almost ‘decapitated’ disabled shopper

Sainsbury’s has been fined £1million after a disabled shopper nearly got decapitated by a “booby trap” at one of its stores.

Prosecutors claimed that Patricia Crampton could have lost her head after she went into twine stretched taut between two pillars in the car park of her local supermarket in Berkshire.

The victim needed to have emergency surgery and titanium plates inserted in her jaw, leaving her with life-changing injuries, the Daily Mirror reports.

The hearing was also told that the car park “trap” put thousands of other customers at risk.

Elizabeth Varcoe, prosecuting on behalf of West Berkshire Council, said the store had created a queuing system in the car park during the Covid lockdown.

This initially used high visibility, red and white plastic tape to mark lanes but when these were vandalised, the store manager opted to use thin but strong baler twine.

Mrs Crampton arrived at the store on June 21, 2020, on her mobility scooter and ran into the twine at speed, face first.

The twine caused serious injuries, said Ms Varcoe, splitting Mrs Crampton's mouth open and fracturing her teeth, jaw and palate, having to be taken to hospital for emergency surgery.

Ms Varcoe added: "At one point she suffered heart failure during the operation."

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Surgeons had to implant titanium plates and screws to rebuild her jaw and palate and Mrs Crampton still needs ongoing medical treatment.

Ms Varcoe suggested the twine amounted to an inadvertent "booby trap" which could have strangled or even decapitated someone during the seven weeks it was used.

She told the court no risk assessment had been conducted on the use of the twine to replace the plastic tape.

Sainsbury’s admitted exposing customers to danger and failing to make a suitable risk assessment contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Kate Blackwell QC, a Sainsbury's spokesperson, said the company had a previously spotless health and safety record with zero previous convictions.

She added that store management co-operated with the investigation and that the company had so far paid Mrs Crampton more than £31,000 towards her medical and care bills.

She told the court: "I begin by saying how sorry Sainsbury's is for Mrs Crampton having had to suffer in the way she has. Thankfully this was a very unusual situation."

Ms Blackwell added that the store manager had decided to use the twine "for the best of reasons" and said it was removed immediately.

She challenged a suggestion that Mrs Crampton could have been decapitated.

The judge fined the supermarket giant £1million and ordered it to pay £18,263.62 costs, plus a statutory victim services surcharge of £190.

A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “Safety is our highest priority and we were deeply concerned by this incident. We launched an immediate investigation and urgent steps were taken to prevent this from ever happening again.

“We are also in close contact with Mrs Crampton and continue to support her recovery in any way we can.”

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