A production company has pleaded guilty to criminal charges after an incident on the set of Star Wars involving Harrison Ford. The Hollywood star, 74, was crushed by a hydraulic door while filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Pinewood Studios in June 2014.
Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of Disney, admitted two of four charges, and will be sentenced in August. The other two charges were withdrawn.
© Photo: Getty ImagesHarrison Ford was injured on the set of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in June 2014
Prosecutor Andrew Marshall told the court that Harrison could have been killed in the incident. He said the star had gone through the door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship, and hit a button before starting to walk back through it, believing the set was not live and that the door would not close.
But it was remotely operated by another person, and as Harrison passed underneath, he was hit in the pelvic area and pinned to the ground.
"It could have killed somebody," Mr Marshall said. "The fact it didn't was because an emergency stop was activated."
The 74-year-old actor reprised his role as Hans Solo in the blockbuster
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) – the public body responsible for the regulation for enforcement of workplace safety, who brought the prosecution – said Harrison was "badly injured after he became trapped under a rapidly closing metal-framed door".
A spokesman said Harrison was hit with a force comparable to the weight of a small car. "This was a foreseeable incident," he said. "Foodles Production (UK) Ltd has accepted it failed to protect actors and staff and HSE welcomes the firm's guilty plea."
