Two companies have been ordered to pay a total of more than £1.6 million in fines and costs for the part they played in the death of a five-year-old girl.

Alexys Brown died at her home in Emmadale Close, Weymouth when her head became trapped in a broken lift door on August 13, 2015.

Following an investigation, charges were brought against landlord, Synergy Housing, and lift maintenance company, Orona Limited, for breaching Section 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

Charges were also brought against Aster Property, which is part of the same group as Synergy Housing, but these have been ordered to lie on file.

Judge Stephen Climie said Synergy and Orona were “wholly responsible” for the child’s death when they were sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Sara Lawson, prosecuting for the Health and Safety Executive, said Alexys’ death had followed a “catalogue of failures and lack of checks” by the companies.

The court heard an Orona engineer had had attended the property in May 2015 – three months before the incident – and had noted the lift’s Perspex viewing panel was “smashed” but this information was not passed on to Synergy and no further action was taken.

The ‘through-floor lift’ assisted with Alexys’ brother Jack Brown’s mobility as he suffers from a degenerative neurological disorder and has been wheelchair bound since the age of five.

On the day of her death, Miss Lawson said Alexys and Jack, then aged 11, were being looked after by their grandmother.

Alexys got into the lift to fetch her brother’s phone from upstairs.

It is believed she put her head out of an existing hole in the lift door to look down at her brother as the lift ascended but Miss Lawson said her head became trapped between the door and the ground floor ceiling causing “horrific” injuries.

Miss Lawson said due to the broken emergency lowering system, Alexys could not be freed until the emergency services arrived and firefighters were forced to cut through the lift car to access the child.

In a statement read in court, one firefighter who had been in attendance said he found Alexys but there was “no signs of life”.

She was freed 20 minutes after the initial 999 call.

Judge Climie said Orona was aware of the fault with the door but took no steps to deal with the matter.

“The risk was clear. The panel required immediate replacement or at least temporary repair,” he said.

He added the lift had was required to be serviced by Orona every six months and was subject to a thorough inspection twice a year by an insurance company, however since 2013 “few – if any – inspections were carried out.”

“Synergy may not have been directly aware [of the broken panel], but they had failed previously to ensure inspections had taken place or that necessary repairs were undertaken,” the judge said.

Synergy Housing was fined £1 million and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs while Orona was fined £533,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 in costs.