Stately home operator fined following death of a butler.

The operators of one of Britain’s most iconic stately homes have been fined £266,000 and ordered to pay costs of £16,863 after a butler was crushed to death by a lift.  The luggage lift was being used to move guests’ bags from the ground to second floor in the private area of the house when one of the bags became jammed and the lift stopped. The butler attempted to free the jammed bags but the lift descended on him, trapping him between the lift cage and the banister of the stairwell housing the lift. Examination of the lift showed that it had not been fitted with a slack rope detector.