10.05.2007

Hewden case will be heard in UK

Hewden Tower Cranes has won its struggle for its claim against Wolffkran to be heard in a British court. Wolffkran had wanted the case to be heard by a German court in accordance with its standard distributor dispute procedures.

Hewden released a statement concerning the claim "Since our claim was filed, proceedings were put on hold by the court until a jurisdiction dispute with the defendant, who requested the proceedings be transferred to German jurisdiction, was resolved."

The claim concerns the collapse of tower crane at Canary wharf in May 2000 in which three Hewden employees were killed and a further two injured.

The accident was said to be instrumental in Hewden exiting the tower crane market and selling the business. Its sale to HTC did not include liability for the accident, that was retained by Hewden: It was forced to settle with its customer Yarm Road Ltd and contractor Cleveland Bridge in 2004. The cost recorded in the accounts of parent Finning was just under £5million.

See Hewden pays
See HSE issue statement
See mystery surrounds Canary Wharf accident
See Hewden clobbered