A company who organised a ‘Jurassic Encounter’ dinosaur event in Enfield was prosecuted and fined £160,000 at Highbury Magistrates Court on 29 November having been found guilty of three charges related to Health and Safety at Work laws.
A five-year-old boy suffered an eye related injury when a large animatronic Diplodocus dinosaur fell on top of him at the event organised by Event 2020S Limited previously called Cultent Event Ltd at the time of the offences in Grovelands Park on 26 July 2021.
Event 2020S Limited were also ordered to pay £20,988.21 of the Council’s costs, making a grand total of £180,988.21.
David Lee, Director of Event 2020S Limited, Julian Duncan, Health and Safety Manager, and Yulong Zheng (aka Dylan Zheng) Production Manager, were charged with offences. However, because they have failed to attend court to answer the summonses, the court has issued warrants for their arrest.
It was clear to council officers upon visiting the site at the time in July 2021, that the large dinosaur exhibit should have been placed on a flat surface given its size and scale.
Several of the dinosaurs were not securely staked to the ground or tethered with guy ropes as they should have been, as set out in the method statement submitted by the company to the Council prior to the event.
While the event was being organised, the Council contacted the organisers, as children could be seen climbing on the dinosaurs. A request was made for fencing around the site to be erected.
There were no signs or notices displayed around the site to prevent members of the public accessing the exhibits outside of its operating hours.
Advice was provided by the Council and reminders sent to the organisers that daily safety checks were required, as set out in the organiser’s Event Safety Plan.
The event organisers were advised to improve their safety arrangements, but upon a second inspection, a decision was made by Enfield Council to issue a Prohibition Notice to close down the event.
On Sunday 8 August 2021, Enfield Council investigators visited the site and found Jurassic Encounter was still open and customers were being allowed entry. The owners were uncontactable on the day.
David Lee, Julian Duncan and Yulong Zheng (aka Dylan Zheng) were requested to provide health and safety documentation (including procedures, staff attendance records, daily checklists and the accident report) associated with the Jurassic Encounter event on several occasions – but did not comply when requested.
The Jurassic Encounter Event took place from 24 July to 10 August 2021 at Grovelands Park.