Britannia Hotels Ltd is set to face a three-week trial after a 21-year-old guest was crushed to death by a falling wardrobe at the Britannia Adelphi Hotel in Liverpool. Chloe Haynes, from Pwllheli, North Wales, was found dead under the heavy wooden wardrobe after a night out in September 2022. The holiday park worker had been staying with a friend at the Grade II listed hotel.
Health and safety charges
The company has been charged with a total of 20 health and safety offences following a three-year investigation by Liverpool City Council. The prosecution also involves an incident in August 2025 when three-year-old Valencia Verdin sustained head injuries after a cabinet fell on her at the same hotel. Judge Brian Cummings KC has fixed a further plea hearing for December 4, 2026, and a provisional trial date for November 15, 2027, at Liverpool Crown Court.
Mother demands answers
Chloe's mother, Nicola Williams, 54, of Wrexham, has been seeking full answers about her daughter's death. She said: 'I need to know, as a mum, I need to know every detail. I don't know how long she was under there before she died. I just cannot believe my daughter is never coming home because of a wardrobe, for the sake of maybe two screws in a wall.'
Chloe, a twin and one of five children, was discovered when her friend returned to the room in the early hours. Two men from other rooms helped lift the wardrobe off her, but she had already been crushed. Three men aged 26, 46, and 49 were initially arrested but later released.
Circumstances of the incident
According to Ms Williams, Chloe had been drinking and her friend took her back to the hotel to sleep. She said: 'It seems she has got up out of bed confused, not knowing where she is, and she's opened the door of the wardrobe, maybe thinking it is the toilet or the door to go back out of the room. It was a big, old, heavy wardrobe and it fell on her and crushed her windpipe.'
Describing her daughter, Ms Williams said: 'My little nickname for her was birdy. She was so petite... She was quiet, she was somebody who didn't speak unless it needed saying. She was beautiful... In the last 12 months, she had been coming out of her shell.'
Metro has contacted Britannia Hotels for comment.
