Furniture giant Ikea has been ordered to cough up a £75,000 fine and pay a £90,000 prosecution bill after admitting to breaching Britain's health and safety legislation.
The Aylesbury Crown Court handed down the sentence on Friday after judges heard that a two-year-old boy had his index and middle fingers on his left hand sliced off by the Ikea travelator in Milton Keynes in March 2007.
Prosecutor Barry Berlin explained that the toddler, who cannot be named for legal reasons, fell and trapped his fingers underneath the "very sharp" skirting of the moving travelator.
He argued that Ikea had breached the Health and Safety Act because the gap between the platform and the step was above the legal limit of 4mm.
Passing the sentence, the judge said he had "no doubt that Ikea, in this store, exposed children to severe and permanent disability."
Simon Antrobus, defending, admitted to the breach and said Ikea had "completely changed the Milton Keynes store" following the accident.
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