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Star Wars production company fined £1.6 million over accident that ‘could have killed’ Harrison Ford

The British firm Foodles Production Ltd have been fined £1.6 million because of the accident on the set of ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ that resulted in Harrison Ford breaking his left leg after a malfunctioning hydraulic metal door crashed onto it. Ford also suffered a “deep laceration” to his left hand, which required plastic surgery.

The incident took place back in June 2014 at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire when Ford was 71. Foodles Production, who are owned by Disney, were charged with two breaches of health and safety regulations, each of which they pled guilty to, and at Aylesbury Crown Court on Wednesday they were informed that they’d have to pay the seven figure fee.

Also on Wednesday it was revealed that the door dropped like a “blunt guillotine”, and missed Ford’s face by millimetres as he walked underneath it, before it then pinned him to the ground at the pelvis.

Ford walked on to the set and pressed a button as he walked back through the Millennium Falcon’s door believing that it wouldn’t close, only for it to do just that.

During the case the court had heard that Ford could have been killed during the accident, while, according to the Guardian, Judge Francis Sheridan remarked, “The greatest failing of all on behalf on the company is a lack of communication, a lack because, if you have a risk assessment and you do not communicate it, what is the point of having one.”

Sheridan noted that if Harrison Ford had been made aware “he might have at least been alert to the dangers that he had to avoid.”

Harrison Ford was able to make a full recovery following the accident, and he completed his work on ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ as Han Solo. It was released in December 2015, and went on to gross over $2 billion across the world.

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[Images via Disney]