Analyst's 'Horrific' Death Leads To Gym & Lift Firm Prosecution

The Evening Standard reports that Virgin Active and lift company ThyssenKrupp are being prosecuted by the Corporation of London over the 2003 death of Polish-born Katarzyna Woja, a £100,000-a-year ($147,000) analyst and portfolio manager who worked at Invesco.

In March  that year, Ms Woja, then 32, went to the Broadgate Health Club (then owned by Holmes Place Health Clubs) during her lunch hour for her usual workout. The last of seven people to get out out the lift, the doors closed and are said to have trapped her. The lift is then said to have dropped, dragging her into the lift shaft. Suffering what have been described as 'horrific' injuries, Ms Woja died at the scene.

The banker was married to a recruitment consultant. The couple, who had no children, lived in Hornsey, North London.

Many are wondering exactly why this case has taken so long to be prosecuted (it comes to court in June). A spokesperson for Virgin Active said: 'Our position with regards to this case is dependent on a number of technical procedural issues and outstanding expert investigations, and we therefore not in a position to comment any further given the legal proceedings. We are doing all that we can to bring the proceedings to a conclusion for the sake of Katarzyna's family'.

Finally, The Times reports that an inquest into the February death of 44-year-old London-based Melvin Sabour, a senior figure at global investment firm AKN Investments, found that the 'millionaire banker' died of heart failure following a binge of cocaine, opium and alcohol. The banker, who is said to have been depressed 'after losing huge amounts of money in the recession', died in front of his girlfriend at his Mayfair flat. The coroner recorded a verdict of death from dependence on drugs.