Foster + Partners Cleared Over Death of Architect at London Tower

The firm, founded by Norman Foster, was not held responsible for the incident at the Corniche tower on Albert Embankment. However, project managers St James and engineers Lindner Prater were found guilty of safety breaches under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The court heard a window panel had fallen from the same development in August 2017, and prosecutors said Ferris's death was foreseeable. The jury deliberated for over 11 hours before clearing F+P and design engineer Wintech.

Prosecutor Gordon Menzies told jurors the earlier incident meant it wasn't an accident waiting to happen … it was an accident that had already happened. Miraculously, he said, no one had been injured when the panel fell in 2017, but the second time, the consequences were fatal.