The creator of a gigantic piece of inflatable artwork that killed two women when it flipped over in a park in County Durham in 2006 has been accused of being negligent by the prosecution at his trial. Maurice Agis, the creator of the Dreamspace artwork is on trial for manslaughter and breaching the Health and Safety Act. Mr Agis, a 77-year old from Bethnal Green in London is denying the charges.
Large public art exhibitions such as the Dreamspace installation have experienced great popularity in recent years, with over 250,000 visitors exploring Dreamspace alone in the past decade. However, there are risks associated with any large inflatable such as bouncy castles and hot air balloons. If an inflatable object is not properly tethered then a sudden gust of wind may be enough to tear it free from its moorings. Unfortunately in the case of Dreamspace the 50 metre by 50 metre artwork was lifted around 21 metres into the air by a gust of wind on a hot summer’s day.
It was revealed in court that on the day in question, 2 employees of the company that was responsible for running the exhibit had reported that some parts of the floor had lifted from the ground. Mr Agis, who was on site at the time, told the employees to fix more ropes to the structure, but they were interrupted before they were able to attach any ropes to the rear of the structure. The court was also told that one of the precursors to the Dreamspace exhibitions, also designed by Mr Agis, had broken free from it’s moorings in Germany in 1986 and injured some visitors there.
The trial is still ongoing, but at an earlier hearing Chester-Le-Street council, on whose land the installation was located, and Brouhaha International, the company responsible for running the Dreamspace attraction, both admitted to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, 1974. Their admission has raised some questions as to the safety of large public art exhibitions. In the case of Dreamspace, it has been revealed that no tests on the safety of the structure in windy conditions had been carried out before the incident in County Durham. The families of the two women killed and the 13 people have already lodged compensation claims against those responsible for the safety of the exhibit, alleging they neglected their duty of care towards members of the public.
An accident at a large public event such as Dreamspace unfortunately can lead to a large number of people being injured through no fault of their own. As specialists in No-Win No-Fee compensation claims, Camps Solicitors can provide advice and assistance to the victims of large scale accidents, or indeed any non-fault accident.
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