Four-year-old 'killed by falling mirror' at Hugo Boss outlet store

A four-year-old boy who was crushed to death after a 19-stone mirror fell on him in a designer shop died in "an accident that was waiting to happen," a coroner has stated.

Senior Oxfordshire Coroner Darren Salter's comments came after an inquest jury returned a narrative verdict in to the death of Austen Harrison.

The youngster had been playing with a heavy steel-framed fitting-room mirror while his father tried on a suit at a Hugo Boss shop when it toppled on to him, causing "devastating" head injuries, Oxford Coroner's Court heard.

The jury found: "The mirror came to fall on Austen after he moved the wings, causing the unfixed mirror to become unstable.

"The jury believes that the mirror should have been fixed to the wall and that the wall should have been reinforced. We do not believe the mirror was fixed to the wall."

Austen of Crawley, West Sussex, was with his parents Simon and Irina Harrison when he was injured at the Bicester outlet village in Oxfordshire on June 4 2013 at around 8.30pm.

He underwent an emergency operation to relieve pressure on his brain but died four days later in hospital after life-support was switched off.

A four-year-old boy died after suffering "devastating" head injuries when a 7ft tall mirror fell on him, an inquest heard.

Austen Harrison was with his parents shopping at the Hugo Boss outlet store in Bicester Village, Oxon, when the large, heavy mirror fell from the wall onto his head in a fitting room.

Austen was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital for emergency surgery after the incident on June 8, 2013, but died four days later when his life support machine was switched off.

An inquest into his death at Oxford Coroner's Court heard that the mirror was not fixed to the wall and that its free-standing position meant it could could easily overbalance.

His father, who was trying on a suit at the time, said he heard an extremely loud bang "as if something had fallen over", and someone gasp before realising it was his son lying motionless underneath.

The inquest is due to last two days.