Olivia Burt: Pub chain fined £1.56m over Durham student's queue death

Olivia Burt had been a first-year student at Durham University

The UK's biggest pub chain has been fined £1.56m over the death of a student who was crushed as she queued to get into a club.

Olivia Burt, 20, suffered head injuries when a decorative barrier fell on her at Missoula in Durham in February 2018.

On Thursday, the Stonegate Group was found guilty of breaching a health and safety law.

Teesside Crown Court was told the first-year student's death was "senseless and avoidable".

Stonegate must also pay more than £225,000 in costs.

Judge Howard Crowson said the fine would not compensate for Olivia's death.

'Incomprehensible tragedy'

He said the screens were designed for decoration - not crowd control - and he did not accept the defence's argument the screens in themselves were not dangerous.

He said Ms Burt's family had suffered an "incomprehensible tragedy", adding: "The sentence does not attempt to measure the worth of Olivia's life.

"Olivia's life is, of course, priceless."

As he left court, Olivia's father, Nigel Burt, said he was glad someone had at last "been held accountable" for his daughter's death.

Olivia Burt had been a member of the university's sailing team

The trial had been told the barrier fell as crowds gathered outside the venue on a Wednesday evening.

The screen which fatally injured Ms Burt, from Milford on Sea, Hampshire, had first fallen shortly after 23:15 BST and was lifted back into place.

About 30 minutes later, some students were leaning against the barrier when Ms Burt fell through a panel.

A a section of the screen gave way and people toppled over it.

Ms Burt's head hit the pavement and "the metal bar of the screen with the weight of other customers landed on her head", the court heard.

In a statement released on Thursday following the guilty verdict, Ms Burt's parents said they could not understand "how she could have died on a night out with friends whilst simply standing in a queue".

"Olivia was our only child and meant everything to us," they said.

They said her life was taken "in the cruellest possible way".

"Our lives will never be the same again," they added.

"We are heartbroken."