'Star Wars' firm pleads guilty over Harrison Ford's injury

One of the film companies behind "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" today pleaded guilty to criminal charges over the on-set accident that left veteran actor Harrison Ford with a broken leg two years ago.

The Foodles Production Ltd

, the UK-based subsidiary of Disney, admitted to safety breaches in two criminal charges at Milton Keynes Magistrates' Court today and will be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court on August 22.

Ford, 74, who reprised the iconic character of Han Solo in the successful franchise, was hit by a hydraulic metal door on the Pinewood studio set of fictional spacecraft the Millenium Falcon in June 2014. The accident left the actor with a broken left leg and he had to be airlifted to hospital.


"It could have killed somebody. The fact that it didn't was because an emergency stop was activated," prosecutor

Andrew Marshall

told the court. Marshall said that Ford had walked through a door on the structure believing it to be inactive. As Ford walked underneath, however, it was remotely operated and consequently pinned the actor to the ground in an accident which posed a "risk of death."

Foodles pleaded guilty to one count under Section 2 of the UK's Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which related to a breach of duty in relation to employees, and a second under section three, a breach over people not employed by the company. "This was a foreseeable incident. The British film industry has a world-renowned reputation for making exceptional films. "Managing on-set risks in a sensible and proportionate way for all actors and staff - regardless of their celebrity status - is vital to protecting both on-screen and off-screen talent, as well as protecting the reputation of the industry," the UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which had conducted an investigation,said in a statement. A spokesperson for the firm said they had cooperated fully with the HSE investigation.

"The safety of our cast and crew was always a top priority throughout the production," it said.