Court hears case of Star Wars set injury to Harrison Ford

Production company pleads guilty to two charges.

by Jennie Kermode

Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Harrison Ford as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Foodles Production (UK) Ltd, a Disney-owned company, today plead guilty to two charges of health and safety violations which, Milton Keynes magistrates court heard, could have killed Harrison Ford.

The case relates to an incident in June 2014 when Ford was on the Millennium Falcon set filming Star Wars: Episode 7 - The Force Awakens. As he walked through a door which was not supposed to be moving, it was remotely operated and hit him, pinning him to the ground and breaking his left leg. He had to be airlifted to hospital but, the court heard, the situation could have been much worse.

"It could have killed somebody," said prosecutor Andrew Marshall. "The fact that it didn’t was because an emergency stop was activated." The Health and Safety Executive said the impact on Ford was like being hit by a small car.

Ford recovered from the incident and completed filming, despite suffering further injuries in an unrelated event the following year, when he the light aircraft he was flying crashed onto a golf course.

Two further charges against Foodles have been dropped.

Share this with others on...

Movies out this week include:

Is This Thing On? Nouvelle Vague Primate Rabbit Trap
News

Home truths Marijana Janković on Balkan representation, and the immigrant question of belonging

The division belle Suzannah Herbert on facing the US' troubled history and making Natchez

Spin-off alchemy Claude Schmitz on bringing back cop pairing for Conrad & Crab – Idiotic Gems

Past crime Christoffer Boe on creating a world for his period mystery Special Unit - The First Murder

It Was Just An Accident screenwriter arrested in Iran Jafar Panahi speaks out

Sundance announces winners Josephine, Nuisance Bear, Shame And Money and To Hold A Mountain take top prizes

More news and features

Interact

As we move into 2026, don't forget that you can follow us on YouTube for trailers of festival films and more. You can also find us on Mastodon and Bluesky.

With awards season in full flow, you can keep track of the latest news on that here:

César nominations Nouvelle Vague leads the race for France's biggest awards

BAFTA nominations One Battle After Another and Sinners almost neck and neck

Critics' Circle Awards One Battle After Another wins fight

Oscars Sinners dominates the nominations