THE Town Hall has been fined almost £220,000 after an 11-year-old boy lost part of his finger in a horrific accident involving a sanding machine at an Islington school.

The Year 7 pupil was one of around 300 children exposed to risks from a Morrisflex Belt Sanding Machine. Neither the school nor the child can be named for legal reasons.

Islington Council was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive after part of the boy’s finger was torn off by dangerous parts of the abrasive sanding belt on March 14, 2014.

The authority was fined £200,000 at Southwark Crown Court yesterday (Thursday) after admitting failing to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety Act between September 2013 and March 2014.

Judge Deborah Taylor said: “Having regard to the overall requirements of the guidelines I have come to the conclusion that the appropriate fine in this case is a sure of £200,000.

“It would be £300,000 had the local authority not pleaded guilty as it did.”

She also ordered the council to pay £19,865.77 in prosecution costs.

Judge Taylor said: “I make it clear that, had this not been a local authority and bearing in mind the size of the organisation and the way it worked, the fine would have been considerably higher.”

The judge imposed an order restricting publication of the name of the boy who lost his finger, or the school where the accident occurred.

Two further charges against the council for failing to prevent access to dangerous parts of machinery and failing to provide adequate training with regards to work equipment regulations, were ordered to lie on file. An

Islington Council spokesman said: “This was a serious injury, which could have been prevented.

“We’re very sorry this happened and apologise to our student and his family.

“Since this accident in 2014 we have introduced comprehensive new procedures for health and safety in our schools.”