Chef slashed tyres after stroganoff row

A CHEF slashed a customer’s tyres with a kitchen knife after she complained that the mushroom stroganoff was over-seasoned, a court heard.

Darren Cubin, 41, admitted he went into “meltdown” when Toni Miller and her partner, David Fryer, refused to pay for their main courses at The Farmer’s Arms in Lowick Green, Cumbria.

The pair complained that the stroganoff and meat and ale pie had too much seasoning, South Cumbria magistrates’ court heard. The couple paid for their starters and drinks but there was a disagreement over the full bill, which led them to walk out of the pub on Sept 6.

Peter Kelly, prosecuting, said Cubin followed them and stabbed two of Ms Miller’s tyres with a knife.

Cubin, from Spark Bridge, admitted causing criminal damage and possessing a knife in public. He told the court: “I just think I had a meltdown, it’s not in my nature to flip like that.”

Cubin said he had left his job, and was handed a sixmonth prison sentence, suspended for 12 months.