Indian restaurateur jailed for killing customer with nut allergy

An Indian restaurateur has been jailed after serving a curry containing nuts to a customer.

Experts say the practice of using nuts to augment more expensive ingredients is widespread and could lead to more deaths.

The owner of an Indian restaurant has been jailed for six years after serving a curry containing nuts to a customer who made it clear he had a peanut allergy.

Mohammed Zaman, 53, the owner of six curry houses, was found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter at Teesside Crown Court on Monday in what is ­believed to be the first prosecution of its kind.

Paul Wilson, 38, was found dead at home after eating a tikka masala. He had emphasised “no nuts” when ordering his meal at the Indian Garden restaurant in Easingwold, North Yorkshire.

During Zaman’s trial it emerged that a teenager had been taken to hospital three weeks ­earlier after suffering an allergic reaction at one of the owner’s other curry houses and that Zaman had ignored numerous warnings. Experts say the practice of using nuts to augment more ­expensive ingredients is widespread and could lead to more deaths.

Wilson, a bar manager, was found slumped in the toilet at his home in Helperby, North Yorkshire, in January 2014 and died from a severe anaphylactic shock.

A teenage girl, who also ­suffered an allergic reaction, had been assured her meal would not contain nuts. She had to be treated with an adrenaline shot.

Zaman was almost £300,000 ($600,000) in debt and cut costs by employing untrained, illegal workers. The prosecution said he had put profit before safety and switched almond powder for a cheaper groundnut mix, which contained peanuts.

Zaman, from Huntington, York, was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences. He was cleared of perverting the course of justice.

He claimed that he left managers to run his restaurants and that included ordering stock and hiring staff. He was not on the premises when the curry was sold.

Richard Wright QC, for the prosecution, said that Wilson had told staff that his meal must be nut-free when he ordered it. He said that the restaurant had written “no nuts” on his order and on the lid of his curry.

Mr Wright said that Zaman’s attitude was reckless and cavalier, adding: “Time and again he ­ignored the danger and did not protect his customers.”

Police and trading standards staff found groundnut powder in the kitchen of the Indian Garden and said that it had contaminated other ingredients.

A test purchaser went to the Indian Garden the day after Wilson’s death and was assured by a staff member that they could buy a nut-free curry.

Wilson’s parents, Keith and Margaret, said that their son had carefully managed his condition since he was seven when he had a reaction to a Snickers chocolate bar. He loved curry but was ­always clear when ordering that his food must not contain nuts.

The Times