Film production company faces sentencing over Harrison Ford's 'near fatal' Star Wars injury

A film production company will be sentenced over health and safety breaches after Hollywood star Harrison Ford was crushed by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon spaceship while filming the latest Star Wars movie.

Ford, who was knocked to the ground and pinned down by the heavy door, could have been killed in the incident as he rehearsed during shooting for Star Wars: The Force Awakens at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire on 12 June 2014, a court was previously told.

The then-71-year-old was reprising his role as Han Solo when he was hit by the door, which had been designed to mimic the action of a door on the original set.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the the power of the rapidly closing metal-framed door meant Ford was hit with a power comparable to the weight of a small car. Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, which is owned by Disney, admitted two breaches under health and safety law at a hearing in July and will be sentenced at Aylesbury Crown Court.

During the July hearing prosecutor Andrew Marshall said Ford had gone through the door with another actor and hit a button. He started to walk back through the door, believing the set was not live and that it would not close.

But it was remotely operated by another person, and as the star passed underneath he was hit in the pelvic area and pinned to the ground. Ford was severely injured and left with a broken left leg, and Mr Marshall said there had been a "risk of death".

The actor talked about the incident during an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, saying that in the original film a door would have been closed with a pulley and a stage hand, adding: "But now we had lots of money and technology and so they built a f*****g great hydraulic door which closed at light speed."

Foodles pleaded guilty to one count under section two of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, which related to a breach of duty in relation to employees, and a second under section three, a breach over people not employed by the company.

Disney also owns the Lucasfilm production company which is behind the Star Wars and Indiana Jones film franchises.