Chef praises courts for chilli attack acquittal

A CURRY house owner has praised the justice system after he was cleared of assaulting a customer by throwing chilli powder in his face.

Kamrul Islam, 47, a chef, was yesterday found not guilty of assaulting David Evans at the Prince of Bengal in Tonypandy, South Wales, on Jan 21 last year, after Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court heard his accusers were drunk and “unreliable witnesses”. Mr Islam, who has closed down the restaurant, said: “I was very confident that the British system would find the right answer.”

He added that people of the Rhondda had given him “so much” in the 20 years he ran restaurants in the area and there was now no question about him. Ruth Smith, for Mr Islam, said Mr Evans and Michelle, his wife, who had claimed the chicken tasted of paraffin and was rubbery, were “clearly unreliable witnesses” who had “tailored their account” that was “riddled with inconsistencies”. She added there were “vast chunks of the evening they had no recollection of ”, probably due to drink.