A Yorkshire-based restaurateur has been jailed for six years for the manslaughter of a customer who experienced an allergic reaction to a curry that was served to him.
38-year-old Paul Wilson suffered a severe anaphylactic shock in January 2014 after eating a takeaway from Mohammed Zaman’s establishment The Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.
The BBC reports that Zaman used cheaper ingredients containing peanuts to cut corners, and had swapped an almond powder for a cheaper one that caused the reaction.
Mr Wilson had specified that he wanted a nut-free takeaway when he ordered from the curry house. He died three weeks after another customer had a similar allergic reaction requiring a hospital stay.
Prosecutor Richard Wright QC said that a week before Wilson’s death, a trading standards officer discovered evidence of nuts in another meal that was said to have been peanut-free. The officer then instructed the staff that all customers must be informed that chefs were using peanuts.
Wright said:
“Mohammed Zaman received numerous warnings that he was putting his customers’ health, and potentially their lives, at risk. Tragically for Paul Wilson, Mohammed Zaman took none of those opportunities and ignored all of the warnings he was given.”
The judge described Zamad as “reckless”, and stated that the 52-year-old “put profit before safety”.
Wilson’s mother Margaret stated that her son was “meticulous” about dealing with peanuts after a reaction to a chocolate bar at the age of seven.
Zamad, a father-of-four, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences.
