Topshop death: No money can bring back my son - Kaden Reddick's mother

On the first day of the half-term break in February 2017, 10-year-old Kaden Reddick, his mother, grandmother and siblings went to the cinema. Afterwards they went to shopping to Topshop. It was there that what had been a nice day out turned into an unforeseeable nightmare.

Reflecting on the events, five years and eight months after the accident, Kaden's mum Lisa Mallett is clear that the mistake that caused his death must never be repeated.

Arcadia Group was fined £650,000 and Topshop/Topman £350,000 after they were found guilty of failing to discharge a health and safety duty after a queue barrier toppled on to Kaden at Topshop in Reading.

"[A retailer's] priority should be that everyone walks out of your shop and unfortunately Kaden didn't - Kaden was taken out in an ambulance and was buried," Ms Mallett said.

"The fine [is] irrelevant. There's no money that can bring back my son. I hope that this teaches retailers to be more aware of what's inside their shop - not just that it looks nice - so that it's safe.

"[The sentencing's] taken that long that my mum passed last year without even knowing if there would be some justice for her grandson and I find that really sad."

The family's grief following Kaden's death, on 13 February 2017, was compounded after they discovered it was the second accident involving a queue barrier at a Topshop store within a week.

A girl was seriously injured at the Silverburn Shopping Centre store in Glasgow, six days before Kaden died. Arcadia Group was fined £450,000 in 2019.

"I went from being extremely sad to quite angry," Ms Mallett said, on learning that Kaden's death was not an isolated incident.

"I thought, 'how could you have had an incident six days prior and now my son is dead? You had a warning when a girl fractured her skull and that should have been enough for you to take it seriously, not when a child is dead'.

"It could have been an old man who needed help getting up - he could have pulled on [the barrier], it could have been a woman with a pram who bumped into it. It could have been anyone at that point. It was hip height, it was a metre tall. It could have been anybody.

"They were more concerned that they looked aesthetically pleasing, not whether they were safe for their customers."

Following Kaden's death, his family donated money initially saved for him to two schools, including his own Garland Junior School in Burghfield Common. He is remembered there with a special reading corner.

"Kaden loved school… I think he wanted to be a teacher more than a student but he loved being at school and he would have loved the fact that his money was used so that other kids could have enjoyment from it," Ms Mallett said.

"He was incredibly smart, very cheeky. He always made me laugh. He used to go roller skating, he loved going on his bike. He was a really good little brother and big brother, he got on really well with his siblings and his step-sisters.

"He was full of adventure, you would be always smiling if he was around. He was a really fun-loving little boy. He was definitely sassy - he knew his own mind."

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