A maintenance worker has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence following the death of a girl after he failed to replace a glass panel in a barrier on a walkway of the North Bank flats, Sheffield city centre.
Two-year-old Ryaheen Banimuslem [pictured here] fell 60ft (18m) through the gap whilst playing in an outdoor garden area on the fourth floor of the block with her mother and others when she strayed along the walkway.
45-year-old Robert Warner [pictured below] of Shiregreen, Sheffield, was found guilty at the city’s Crown Court of manslaughter by gross negligence and jailed for four years, after he removed the panel [pictured below] to replace another which had smashed in a more prominent area, but did not replace it.
During the trial Bryan Cox QC, prosecuting, said: “She made her way along the walkway to the point where the panel had been removed. She passed through the gap in the barrier and fell to her death. There was nothing to prevent her from walking or running off the end of the walkway, as she plainly did.
“This accident was caused by the defendant’s negligent conduct. In essence, the prosecution contend that he removed the barrier from the walkway and failed to replace it. He did nothing to prevent access to the walkway, thereby creating a very dangerous situation. He did nothing to warn of the obvious dangers.”
Mark Auty, Specialist Prosecutor in the Crown Prosecution Service Special Crime Division, said: “This terrible incident was caused by Robert Warner removing a glass panel from a fourth floor walkway of a residential apartment block.
“In order to replace a damaged panel in the garden area of the apartments, he deliberately removed a panel from a less obvious place, leaving an unprotected gap through which two-year-old Ryaheen Banimuslem tragically fell to her death.
“Robert Warner took no steps to prevent access to the gap in the panels and did nothing to warn others of the danger. Although he did not intend to cause the death of a child, today’s verdict has found that it is because of his gross negligence, and the obvious dangers he created, that Ryaheen is no longer with us.
“Our thoughts are with Ryaheen’s family at this time.”
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A maintenance worker has been found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence following the death of a girl after he failed to replace a glass panel in a barrier on a walkway of the North Bank flats, Sheffield city centre.
