Curry house bosses jailed over girl’s nut allergy death
A judge yesterday warned restaurants to take allergies seriously as she jailed two takeaway bosses over a girl’s death.
Megan Lee, 15, suffered a fatal asthma attack brought on by an allergy to peanuts.
Traces of the nuts were in food she had bought from the Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire. The restaurant had no allergen controls.
Mrs justice Amanda Yip told Manchester Crown Court the tragic case should raise awareness in the food industry.
She added: ‘It is important that the message is heard that those who fail to take proper care in the supply of food to the
‘This is a living nightmare’
public will face significant custodial sentences if a death results.’
The High Court judge jailed manager Harun Rashid, 38, for three years and owner Mohammed Kuddus, 40, for two
years. The Bangladeshi nationals were convicted of Megan’s manslaughter through gross negligence last month. She died in hospital on new year’s day 2017, two days after eating the takeaway at a friend’s house.
Mrs justice Yip said Rashid, of Haslingden, Lancashire, and Kuddus, of Blackburn, were ‘not bad men’ and had shown genuine remorse.
But the judge highlighted how the takeaway, which shut down after the tragedy and has reopened under new ownership, had ‘no systems or process to manage allergen control’ at the time.
Kuddus also pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety regulations, an offence Rashid was convicted of at the trial.
The takeaway order was placed by Megan’s friend as they revised for gCSe mock exams. Megan suffered initial swelling to her face and became seriously unwell after being taken home by her mother. Although the order – an onion bhaji, seekh kebab and peshwari naan – would not ordinarily contain nuts, investigations found Megan had eaten peanut protein probably through cross-contamination.
Megan’s mother gemma, 34, struggled to hold back tears as she told the court her daughter loved musicals and dreamt of being an actress in the West end.
‘How do live without the beat of your heart, our daughter and our best friend? This is a living nightmare,’ she said.
Mrs Lee said she, husband Adam and their eight-year-old son Owen had only felt able to sit down together once for a family meal due to the ‘empty chair at the table’.
Mrs Lee said Megan had not previously suffered a serious reaction.