The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) has been sentenced after a member of the public fell into a vacant lift shaft.

Mr Hector Maclean, 23, fell into a vacant lift shaft after leaning on a set of double doors at street level.

The doors were operated and controlled by RADA at its Central London campus. The doors were secured with a lock and key. Mr Maclean leant against one of the doors and it opened inwards causing him to fall backwards through the double doors and into the lift shaft. He fell between five and six metres to the bottom of the lift shaft, breaking both legs.

His injuries have prevented him from attending university and working as a fashion model.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that RADA had failed to carry out a basic risk assessment on a vacant lift shaft at its site with access from the street.

RADA, of Gower Street, London, pleaded guilty at Westminster Magistrates’ Court and was fined £12,000 and ordered to pay £1,266 in costs for breaching Section 3(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act1974.