Curry house boss ‘ignored danger of killer takeaway’
A RESTAURANT owner killed a customer who had a nut allergy by serving him a curry he knew contained peanuts, a court heard yesterday.
Debt-ridden Mohammed Zaman, 53, was said to have ordered ground peanuts instead of almond powder from a supplier because it cost him half as much.
He then described dishes made with the ingredient as nut-free.
Pub manager Paul Wilson went to the restaurant for a takeaway and warned staff he had a severe nut allergy. He was assured the food was safe and bought a chicken tikka. It was even labelled nut-free on the lid of the takeaway box.
Mr Wilson, 38, was found dead at his home the following morning having suffered a massive anaphylactic shock.
The waiter who took his order and the chef who prepared the meal at the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorks, were both in breach of immigration laws and were working illegally, Teesside Crown Court was told.
Less than a month earlier nut-allergic student Ruby Scott, 17, had been rushed to hospital and saved by medics after eating a chicken korma from another of Zaman’s restaurants.
Her mother later rang the restaurant and was assured it did not contain peanuts.
Richard Wright, QC, prosecuting, said trading standards investigators found potentially lethal doses of peanuts in a curry sold by Zaman. He was allegedly still wrongly claiming dishes were nut-free a day after the death of Mr Wilson, of Helperby, North Yorks.
Mr Wright said: “Paul Wilson ordered no nuts in clear and simple terms. Here was a business in which corners were being cut for the sake of profits and the customer was constantly exposed to danger.
“There is no doubt that the curry he ate, the lid of which bore the legend ‘no nuts’, contained peanuts and that the peanuts caused his death.”
Mr Wright said Zaman tried to make savings because his restaurant business was £300,000 in debt.
In what is thought to be the first prosecution of its kind, Zaman denies manslaughter and a series of offences under food safety regulations. The trial continues. Restaurant boss Mohammed Zaman, left, at court yesterday. Paul, Wilson, right, died after eating a curry allegedly containing peanuts at Zaman’s eaterie, below