The widow of a Paralympian killed when a shot-put cage collapsed during training for the World Athletics Championships in London has called for a “just” punishment for those responsible.
Father-of-five Abdullah Hayayei, 36, who represented the United Arab Emirates, suffered a severe head injury when the 440lb metal structure fell on him at Newham leisure centre in east London on July 11 2017.
The court was told the 5ft high cage had toppled over because it was put up incorrectly and without its base plate, in an “accident waiting to happen”.
UK Athletics Ltd pleaded guilty to corporate manslaughter and Keith Davies, 79, who was head of sport for the 2017 World Paralympic Athletics Championships, admitted a health and safety charge.
On Monday, Mr Hayayei’s widow, Badriah, attended the first of a two-day sentencing hearing at the Old Bailey by video-link from the UAE.
In a victim statement read to court, she described the impact on her and her five children, who were aged between two and 14 when they lost their father.
She said: “It was a huge shock to me because I was waiting for news of his victory and success in the championships and suddenly the news of his death reached me.
“At first I could not comprehend what happened and refused to believe the news.”
She said she had suffered “greatly” both psychologically and financially from losing her husband.
She said: “I was pained even more when I found out what had happened could have been avoided if safety procedures had been properly applied.
“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.
“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.”
Wheelchair-user Mr Hayayei, who had cerebral palsy, had been due to compete in the para athletics shot-put event during the World Athletics Championships in Stratford.
The training cage he was using collapsed because it had been incorrectly assembled without its metal base plate.
In the five years since UK Athletics acquired two identical cages originally used in the 2012 Olympics, they had never been properly assembled with the base plates attached, the court heard.
One of them had collapsed in 2012 although no-one was injured on that occasion, the court was told.
Before the fatal incident, they had been used at five public events, including anniversary games in Stratford and at Swansea University Stadium.
Prosecutor John Price KC said: “Over this period, very many athletes will have been within the cages and many more standing or passing close by.
“It was a perennial hazard, or to use a familiar phrase, an accident waiting to happen.”
The two practice cages had been given to UK Athletics by the organisation committee for the London 2012 Games.
On the afternoon of July 11 2017, Mr Hayayei was training in a cage under supervision of the UAE team coach, Ayman Mohamed Ali Ibrahim, and his assistant.
In a statement, Mr Ibrahim said: “Moments before the incident happened, Abdullah was inside the throwing circle and was practising the shot-put.
“Whilst Abdullah was carrying out the throws, we were surprised by the wind that came all of a sudden and moved the whole cage, causing the bar on the top to fall directly on his head. My assistant and I rushed to help.”
Mr Hayayei collapsed immediately and had to be cut free from netting and, despite efforts of medics, he never regained consciousness and died at 7.20pm.
Davies, who had supervised the construction of the cage in Newham, told police it was erected in accordance with the instructions – which was not “truthful”, Mr Price said.
In the wake of the fatal incident, a Prohibition Notice was put on both the cages barring them from being used.
Mr Price said it was a “remarkable feature” of the case that UK Athletics tried to get the notice lifted on the second cage, which was refused.
Davies had claimed UK Athletics had never been supplied with base plates, but this proved not to be true, the court was told.
Judge Richard Marks KC is expected to sentence UK Athletics and Davies, of Leytonstone, east London, on Tuesday.
According to Sentencing Council guidelines, corporate manslaughter carries a fine of between £180,000 and £20 million.
UK Athletics, the national governing body for athletics in the UK, had an annual revenue of £13.8 million, according to latest accounts to March 2025.
However, its income, primarily from grants and sponsorship, is largely matched by expenditure.
