Guilty pleas in Dreamspace artwork tragedy

Dec 20 2008 by Hilary Clixby, The Journal

A NORTH East council and an arts promotions company have admitted breaching safety regulations following the deaths of two women killed when an inflatable artwork lifted off its moorings.

Chester-le-Street District Council and Liverpool-based Brouhaha International Ltd each pleaded guilty to a breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act arising from the July 2006 incident.

The creator of the giant Dreamspace artwork, Maurice Agis, denied two charges of manslaughter when he appeared before Newcastle Crown Court yesterday.

He also denies a further count of contravening the Health and Safety at Work Act.

Agis, 76, of Kirton Gardens, Bethnal Green, East London, was further remanded on bail after his case was adjourned for a trial expected to last up to four weeks and due to start on January 26 next year.

The council’s director of development services, Tony Galloway, 48, of Wigglesworth, Bishop Auckland, County Durham, denied a single count of breach of the Health and Safety at Work Act.

The judge Mrs Justice Cox ordered that charge to lie on the file and Mr Galloway will not face trial.

Chester-le-Street District Council and Brouhaha will be sentenced at the conclusion of Agis’s trial.

The charges follow a lengthy investigation by Durham Constabulary and the Health and Safety Executive.

Claire Furmedge, 38, a radiographer, of Whitehills, Chester-le-Street and retired clerk Elizabeth Collings, 68, of Seaham, County Durham, both died in the accident.

Thirteen other visitors were injured including Rosie Wright, then aged three, of Langley Park near Durham.

The sculpture was made up of more than 150 multi-coloured PVC sheets, allowing visitors to walk through a labyrinth of tunnels inside, experiencing changing colours and sounds.

The incident happened on the second day of its scheduled nine-day visit to Chester-le-Street as part of an Arts Council-funded tour.

The tour marked the 10th anniversary of Dreamspace, created in 1996 as part of Copenhagen’s year as European City of Culture.