UK Athletics pleads guilty to corporate manslaughter
#UK Athletics#corporate manslaughter#Abdullah Hayayei#Paralympian#London 2017#health and safety#metal cage
📌 Key Takeaways
UK Athletics pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter in Paralympian Abdullah Hayayei's death
The incident occurred in July 2017 when a metal cage fell on Hayayei during training
Keith Davies, head of sport for the 2017 World Para-athletics Championships, pleaded guilty to health and safety charges
Hayayei was a 36-year-old father of five with a competitive Paralympic record
Sentencing has been scheduled for early June 2025
📖 Full Retelling
UK Athletics and its former head of sport Keith Davies pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and health and safety charges respectively at the Old Bailey in London on Friday, following the 2017 death of UAE Paralympian Abdullah Hayayei who was killed when a metal cage fell on him during training at Newham Leisure Centre. The 36-year-old athlete, a father of five from the United Arab Emirates, was preparing for the World Para-athletics Championships in London at the time of the tragic incident in July 2017. Despite initially pleading not guilty in March 2025, UK Athletics entered a fresh plea during the recent hearing, while Davies, 78, admitted to health and safety violations after previously denying gross negligence manslaughter. Prosecutor Karen Robinson requested a two-day sentencing hearing in early June, confirming the prosecution would not seek a trial and that all outstanding charges would be addressed during sentencing proceedings. Davies was granted continued bail on the condition he cooperate with the Probation Service for a pre-sentence report.
UK Athletics (UKA) is the governing body for the sport of athletics in the United Kingdom. It is responsible for overseeing the governance of athletics events in the UK as well as athletes, their development, and athletics officials. The organisation outwardly rebranded itself as British Athletics i...
Major international sport event for people with disabilities
The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, have been held shortly after the corresponding Olympi...
Abdullah Hayayei (4 December 1980 – 11 July 2017) was an Emirati athlete. He competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics, finishing sixth in the javelin and seventh in the shot put.
Hayayei died in London at the Newham Leisure Centre, where he was training for the 2017 World Para Athletics Championships...
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Original Source
UK Athletics pleads guilty to corporate manslaughter Published 1 hour ago UK Athletics has pleaded guilty to the corporate manslaughter of Paralympian Abdullah Hayayei. Hayayei died aged 36 after a metal cage fell on him while training at Newham Leisure Centre, London in July 2017. UK Athletics pleaded not guilty to the charge in March 2025 but entered a fresh plea on Friday at an Old Bailey hearing. Keith Davies, the head of sport for the 2017 World Para-athletics Championships, also pleaded guilty to a health and safety charge, having previously denied gross negligence manslaughter. Prosecutor Karen Robinson asked the court to set a two-day sentencing hearing in early June, confirming the prosecution would not seek a trial and the outstanding charges would be dealt with at the conclusion of the sentencing. Davies, 78, was granted continued bail on the condition he liaise with the Probation Service for a pre-sentence report. Hayayei was training for the World Para-athletics Championships in London at the time of the incident. The United Arab Emirates thrower had been set to compete in the F34 shot put, discus and javelin events. Hayayei, a father of five, finished sixth in the javelin and seventh in the shot put when making his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016. London 2017 was due to be his second appearance at a worlds. At the 2015 event in Doha, Qatar, Hayayei finished fifth in the discus and eighth in the shot put. A moment of silence was held in honour of Hayayei during the opening ceremony at London Stadium. Related topics Disability Sport
