Liverpool arts group to face charges over inflatable death

Sep 26 2008

Dreamspace inflatable artwork by Maurice Agis _320

The creator of an inflatable artwork which flipped over and killed two people will go on trial in the New Year.

Artist Maurice Agis, 76, from east London, who conceived the multi-coloured Dreamspace sculpture, appeared before Newcastle Crown Court charged with manslaughter.

Agis, of Kirton Gardens, Bethnal Green, east London, also faced a charge under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The Liverpool-based promotions company Brouhaha International Limited has been charged with breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act, as is Chester-le-Street District Council.

The council’s director of development services Tony Galloway, 48, of East Pethrow Farm, Wigglesworth, Bishop Auckland, Co Durham, has been charged with a separate breach of the act.

Brouhaha International Ltd was excused attendance today but the other defendants all appeared in court for the brief plea and directions hearing.

No pleas were entered and the case was adjourned until later in the year. A trial will take place in January before a High Court Judge.

The defendants were all charged following a lengthy police investigation into the tragedy in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, in July 2006.

Claire Furmedge, 38, from Chester-le-Street and 68-year-old Elizabeth Collings, from Seaham, died while they were exploring inside the artwork which was on a national tour.

Another 13 visitors were injured, among them Rosie Wright, then aged three, whose life was saved by a passing anaesthetist and the prompt action of an air ambulance crew who flew her to hospital.

The plastic inflatable flipped into the air on a hot afternoon when Riverside Park was busy with visitors.

Inflated by large fans, the panelled 50m x 50m PVC structure was big enough for people to enter and explore its confines, experiencing changing colours and sounds.

It slipped its moorings, reared up and tipped over, hitting a CCTV camera close to the River Wear.

The artist was seen vainly trying to grab on to a rope to stop the inflatable taking off.

Dreamspace received £60,000 from the Arts Council for a UK tour, and had already visited Liverpool.

The remains of the structure were taken away by police and subjected to rigorous testing.