The freak accident that almost derailed the movie, Fisherman’s Friends (3 min read)

Unlikely music sensations, Fisherman’s Friends are enjoying critical acclaim and media attention as the movie about their musical journey is about to be released on the 30th of August. But there lies a tragedy beneath the shanty group’s success.

In 2013, vocalist Trevor Grills and the group’s then-manager Paul McMullen were fatally wounded when a steel door fell on them just before a performance at the G Live concert hall in Guildford, Surrey. McMullen died at the scene and Grills died in hospital days later.

The owner of the steel door manufacturer was tried and later acquitted for manslaughter. Instead the firm, Express Hi-Fold Doors Ltd, was fined £30,000 after being found guilty of a breach of health and safety laws.

Grief-stricken, the group stopped performing for a year thereafter.

“We definitely thought about ending it after the accident,” says Jeremy Brown, a lifeboatmen and one of the group’s founding members.

When asked how they managed to continue, he responded, “We’d been very close prior to the accident, it seemed strange to leave it like that, it was unfinished business.”

With that, they tentatively put the devastating incident behind them and continued making music.

The band, mostly 60-year-olds, has gone on to play at Glastonbury Festival, sing for Prince Charles and Duchess Camilla and performed at the Royal Festival Hall in London.