The owner of an Indian restaurant in England was found guilty and sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for the death of one of his customers after he cut corners while whipping up an order of Chicken Tikka Masala.
According to BBC, a judge in Teesside Crown Court in North Yorkshire found 52-year-old Mohammed Zaman of Indian origin guilty of manslaughter and gross negligence after he swapped almond powder with a cheaper groundnut mix containing peanuts.
Indian restaurant owner in UK convicted of manslaughter after customer died from allergic reaction to takeaway curry https://t.co/utsaKpriQQ
The swap turned out fatal to Paul Wilson (38) who had specifically ordered the classic dish from the restaurant Indian Garden with ‘no nuts’ as he was severely allergic to peanuts. It was learnt that the lid of the takeaway container even said that the dish had no peanuts in it.
Image courtesy: www.indiawest.com and North Yorkshire Police
Reportedly, the man went into an anaphylactic shock after consuming the meal in January, 2014, and died at the hospital.
During the trial, Wilson’s parents testified that their son was “meticulous” in taking precautions with his life-threatening allergy following the diagnosis when he was just 7.
“He was always very, very careful whenever he was out in a restaurant or working,” his mom Margaret told New York Post.
Ironically, the incident occurred three weeks after another customer was hospitalized for an allergic reaction to the nut mix in a dish from one of Zaman’s other restaurants.
Zaman claimed that he was not at the restaurant when the fatal error occurred and said that he had left daily operations including restocking the pantry and hiring new staff to his managers.
According to New York Post, the trial revealed that Zaman was $434,000 in debt and was cutting costs by subbing almond powder with the peanut blend as well as hiring illegal workers.
