Pret in row over second allergy death

Pret a Manger has been accused of making “unfounded” statements about a second allergy death as a coconut yogurt firm denied its product was responsible. Pret has alleged that it was “mis-sold” a guaranteed dairy-free yogurt by a supplier, Coyo, which led to the death of a second customer in December after eating a “super-veg rainbow” flatbread. The person, who has not been named, collapsed and died after purchasing the supposedly dairy-free wrap from a store in Bath. It was found to contain dairy protein.

downgrading things people would consider serious crimes that should be investigated.

“It is a postcode lottery whether your crime gets investigated. Why is it that in, say, Sussex a crime will be properly investigated whereas in, say, Northumberland it won’t?”

A spokesman for the Home Office said: “We expect the police to take all reports of crime seriously, to investigate and to bring the offenders to court so that they can receive appropriate punishment.”

Marian Fitzgerald, a visiting professor of criminology at the University of Kent, said crimes being “screened out” typically included “theft, criminal damage, vandalism, thefts from cars”.

A spokesman for the National Police Chiefs’ Council said: “Police may choose not to investigate cases where there isn’t a prospect of a criminal justice outcome and the time spent on the investigation would not be proportionate.

“Policing is under strain, dealing with rising crime and demand that is more complex and an unprecedented terror threat with fewer officers.”

Julia Mulligan, Police and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire, said the force’s stated “optimal” screenout rate of 56 per cent was concerning, adding: “Some ‘screening out’ is needed but that doesn’t mean to say that should be a target and it should be applied across the board.”

A West Yorkshire police spokesman said the force introduced the rate after reviewing 4,000 crimes and finding it was allocating too many crimes for further investigation. “We needed to focus our front-line officer time more appropriately,” he said.

“For example, a crime might be ‘screened out’ if it was relatively minor and offers no investigative opportunities,” he said, adding that all cases received a “primary investigation”, although this could be just a phone call. ♦ The Dispatches episode, Lawless Britain: Where are the Police?, will be screened on Channel 4 at 8pm tonight.