Mother killed by falling brick pallet on London school run, contractors on trial

Michaela Boor, a mother of one, was walking past a building site on Burdett Road in Bow, east London, after leaving her child at a primary school when a pallet of bricks being moved by a tower crane fell onto the pavement and struck her. The load, weighing more than two tonnes, caused severe skull fractures and brain damage, leading to her death on March 29, 2018, after surgery at the Royal London Hospital. Higgins Homes plc, the main contractor and designer of the development, along with four men—site manager Thomas Anstis, lifting-operations director Stephen Coulson, crane supervisor Dawood Maan, and crane operator Alexander McInnes—are each charged with one count of gross negligence manslaughter and a health-and-safety offence. The trial is being heard at the Old Bailey, with all defendants denying the allegations.