APA News
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Takeaway Owner Jailed for Six Years
In a landmark verdict Indian takeaway owner Mohammed Zaman who “put profit before safety” was given 6 years for corporate manslaughter due to gross negligence and six food safety act offences following the death of Paul Wilson who was a peanut allergy sufferer.
Mr Zaman, owner of the Indian Garden, in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, was charged following the death of Paul Wilson, who suffered a severe anaphylactic shock at his home in Helperby, near Thirsk, in January 2014.
The meal served to Mr Wilson included a chicken tikka masala the sauce of which was thickened with powdered peanut. Other components of the meal were also contaminated. The evidence of Public Analyst Dr Duncan Campbell who oversaw the analysis of the meal and related samples was agreed by the prosecution. Dr Campbell commend during an interview broadcast on the BBC TV’s regional news programme Look North “To a person with a severe allergy a tiny amount can be fatal – a single peanut is enough to cause a severe reaction in up to 25 people. The sauce of Paul Wilson’s meal was thickened with peanut powder and less than a teaspoonful would have proved fatal.”
Martin Goldman, Chief Crown Prosecutor, CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “This is a truly tragic case in which Paul Wilson lost his life entirely needlessly. In this conviction, the CPS has sent a very clear message to the catering industry: there is a duty of care to your customers. If you ignore your responsibilities and regulations and put lives at real risk then we will not hesitate to prosecute.”
