AN APPEAL by University College London (UCL) against a £300,000 fine after a student suffered eye damage was rejected by the Court of Appeal today.

UCL was fined last July after pleading guilty to health and safety breaches that led to a woman suffering “life-changing” injuries.

Marie-Laure Hicks, who was studying at UCL’s London Centre for Nanotechnology, was injured in June 2014 when glass from a “bespoke piece of equipment called a lithium evaporator” exploded during an experiment.