UK Athletics Fined £350,000 Over "Wholly Avoidable" Death of Paralympian

UK Athletics has been ordered to pay £350,000 plus £44,000 in costs following the tragic death of UAE Paralympic shot-putter Abdullah Hayayei. The 36-year-old athlete was killed at an east London training ground when an incorrectly assembled metal practice cage collapsed onto his head.

The incident occurred on July 11th, 2017, at the Newham Leisure Centre while Mr. Hayayei, a wheelchair user who lived with cerebral palsy, was preparing for the World Para Athletics Championships. A sudden, strong gust of wind caught the 440lb, 5-foot-high throwing structure, causing a heavy metal bar to fall directly onto him. Medics attempted to save him, but he never regained consciousness.

At an Old Bailey sentencing hearing, Judge Richard Marks KC described the death as “tragic, untimely and wholly avoidable,” adding that it was “an accident which sooner or later was waiting to happen.”

Alongside the corporate fine, 79-year-old Keith Davies, the former head of sport for the championships and a retired PE teacher, was given a 12-month community order to complete 175 hours of unpaid work. Davies was in charge of the equipment, which had been erected without vital base plates attached to its structure.

Court sees history of safety issues from UK Athletics

The court heard a harrowing history of safety failures leading up to the disaster. UK Athletics had originally been gifted two identical practice cages by the London 2012 Olympic organizing committee. A nearly decade-long police investigation uncovered photographs from roughly a dozen separate athletic events showing that over a five-year period, the governing body had never properly secured the equipment with its necessary base plates.

In fact, an identical cage had previously collapsed in 2012. While no one was hurt in that earlier incident, prosecutor John Price KC noted that the lack of proper assembly created a hazard for countless athletes over the years.

Detectives revealed that the lead technician of the firm that manufactured the equipment knew immediately upon viewing the scene that it had been set up incorrectly. While Davies claimed that UK Athletics had never been supplied with the required base plates, investigators disproved this, even finding the plates for the second cage stored at the London Stadium before they were shifted to Cambridge. The specific base plates meant for the collapsed cage have never been found.

After a prohibition notice was placed on both structures following the fatality, UK Athletics unsuccessfully tried to get the ban lifted so they could continue using the second cage.

The court heard that in the years following the tragedy, UK Athletics initial management team attempted to avoid corporate accountability by pointing the finger at Davies, and even tried to shift blame onto the Newham training venue.

Price condemned a statement previously submitted by the organization, calling it “a deeply unworthy document by a national sporting body and one of which it should be ashamed.”

Judge Marks agreed that the previous management's stance had been "most unattractive," though he recognized that the organization's current leadership had fully disavowed that strategy and expressed "sincere regret."

UK Athletics pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter in February, while Davies admitted to a breach of health and safety law.

The athlete's widow, Badriah, attended the court proceedings via video link from the UAE, sharing how she has been left to raise their five young children, who were aged between 2 and 14 at the time of the incident, completely alone.

“I hope the court looks at the magnitude of the harm to our family because Abdullah was not just a person who passed away. He was a father, a husband with responsibilities, dreams and a future," she stated. “I hope the court takes a just stance against everyone who caused this because what happened was not just a simple mistake but the result of negligence, gross negligence, that could have been avoided if safety procedures adhered to. My husband went out to represent his country and raise the name of the UAE but he returned as a corpse because of this negligence.”

In structuring the financial penalty, Judge Marks acknowledged that UK Athletics operates primarily as a club of passionate members designed to help grassroots and elite sports. Noting that a severe penalty could significantly weaken the body's ability to support athletes in the community, the judge allowed the fine to be paid in installments over a six-year period. UK Athletics reported a turnover of £13.8 million in 2025, with a projected deficit of £400,000 for the upcoming year.

In an official statement, UK Athletics offered its apologies:

“Today's sentence marks a significant moment for UK Athletics. The failings identified in this case should never have happened, and UK Athletics is deeply and genuinely sorry for what occurred and for the impact it has had on all those affected. Since then, substantial changes have been made to strengthen the way safety, governance and event operations are managed across the sport. While nothing can undo what happened, there has been a determined focus on learning from these events and ensuring stronger standards and safeguards are in place throughout athletics.”