Crumbling justice

PEDESTRIAN HURT AFTER OLD BAILEY MASONRY CRASHES INTO STREET BELOW

- Tristan Kirk

A MEMBER of the public was hospitalised after masonry over the “decaying” historic entrance to the Old Bailey crumbled and crashed into the street below.

Part of the façade above the Ceremonial Gates of the centuries-old courthouse in central London broke off shortly before Christmas.

No one was hurt when the stone fell from the building, but a pedestrian was injured after tumbling over debris on the pavement before the area had been cordoned off.

An investigation into the incident has now been launched by the City of London Corporation, which manages the Old Bailey, while it has prompted a public acceptance that funding for the court’s maintenance had been repeatedly delayed over the last decade.