The boy suffered an eye-related injury when the animatronic dinosaur fell on him in July 2021

The animatronic dinosaur at the Jurassic Encounter event lies on its side after falling over at Grovelands Park (credit Enfield Council)

A company which organised a ‘Jurassic Encounter’ event in Southgate has been found guilty of breaching health and safety rules and fined £160,000 in relation to an incident where a dinosaur model fell on and injured a five-year-old boy.

The boy suffered an eye-related injury when the large animatronic diplodocus dinosaur fell on top of him at the event organised by Event 2020S Ltd – previously called Cultent Event Ltd at the time of the offences – in Grovelands Park on 26th July 2021.

The firm was prosecuted by Enfield Council following an investigation into the incident, and was recently found guilty at Highbury Magistrates Court on three charges related to the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

In addition to being fined, Event 2020S Ltd was ordered to pay £20,988.21 of the council’s costs, making a total to pay of £180,988.21.

Company director David Lee, health and safety manager Julian Duncan, and production manager Yulong Zheng (aka Dylan Zheng), were also charged with offences. However, because they have failed to attend court to answer the summonses, the court has issued warrants for their arrest.

The council says it was “clear” to its officers upon visiting the site in July 2021 that the large dinosaur exhibit “should have been placed on a flat surface given its size and scale”.

It adds that several of the dinosaurs “were not securely staked to the ground or tethered with guy ropes as they should have been, as set out in the method statement submitted by the company to the council prior to the event”.

While the event was being organised, the council contacted the organisers “as children could be seen climbing on the dinosaurs” and a request was made for fencing around the site to be erected. There were no signs or notices displayed around the site to prevent visitors accessing the exhibits outside operating hours.

Advice was provided by the council and reminders sent to the organisers that daily safety checks were required, as set out in the organiser’s event safety plan, and they were advised to improve their safety arrangements.

Upon a second inspection, a decision was made by the council to issue a prohibition notice to close down the event. But on Sunday, 8th August, council investigators visited the site and found Jurassic Encounter was still open and customers were being allowed entry.

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