The demolition company responsible for the collapse of the Uptown Theatre has pleaded guilty to failing to properly inspect the roof before it fell, leading to the death of one man and injuries to 17 other people.

Justice Geraldine Sparrow fined Priestly Demolition Inc. $200,000 yesterday after its lawyer, Roy Filion, pleaded guilty on its behalf to one violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act.

"The results of this breach of the act were wide-ranging and tragic," Sparrow said.
Augusto Mejia Solis, a 27-year-old Costa Rican learning English at Yorkville English Academy, next door to the Balmuto St. movie theatre, was killed by falling debris on the morning of Dec. 8, 2003.

The theatre's masonry walls, pressured by the collapsing roof, crashed through the roof of the school where moments earlier Solis had written an email to his family back home.
He was found lying on top of a 10-year-old Korean boy, Seung Woo Cho, whom he was trying to shield, emergency workers said at the time. Eleven other students and staff at the school were trapped, and later rushed to hospital. Five workers at a Scotiabank branch next door to the theatre, close to Yonge and Bloor Sts., were also injured.

The $200,000 fine is well within the proper range for similar violations, labour ministry prosecutor Brian Blumenthal told the judge. But it is "in no way a reflection of the value of a life" nor compensation for injuries, Blumenthal told the Ontario Court of Justice.

None of the victims nor their families were in the Old City Hall courtroom yesterday. Several have launched lawsuits. Ryan and Vic Priestly, officials of the private demolition company, were in court. Neither they nor their lawyer commented as they left.

The fine is partly based on the size of the Aurora-based company, which has up to 120 workers and annual revenues of $26.7 million, Blumenthal told the judge. The maximum fine is $500,000.

On the day of the demolition a worker using a machine equipped with a high-reaching
mechanical arm tipped with hydraulic shears cut the top steel beam of the truss, or roof-support framework, causing the collapse, according to an agreed statement of facts read into the record by Blumenthal.

Priestly failed to take "the reasonable precaution" of ensuring that a competent worker had inspected the structure, Blumenthal said. Priestly never asked the engineer it had hired to visit the site, Blumenthal said.

But Priestly's lawyer told the judge the accident occurred because the beams supporting the roof, instead of being separate as is usual, were unexpectedly connected. "I don't want the impression left with the court that nobody considered what the roof structure was," Filion said. It seemed to be of a type familiar to the company, he said.

Priestly, incorporated in 1993, has no prior convictions. "The company has had an unblemished safety record," Filion said.

After the guilty plea, Blumenthal dropped three related charges, as well as two counts against Antonio Vieira, who was the site's demolition supervisor.

After the collapse, Priestly Demolition was permitted to finish the demolition job, for which it was paid $255,000, court heard.