I had stomach removed af ter downing a liquid nitrogen cocktail at bar
Girl tells of agony as firm fined £100k
A TEENAGER collapsed in agony with steam pouring from her mouth and nose after drinking a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen, a court heard.
Gaby Scanlon felt her stomach expand massively with gas immediately after downing her second Nitro Jagermeister.
She then fell to the floor of a wine bar where she had been celebrating her 18th birthday with friends.
Miss Scanlon was taken to hospital where her stomach was removed in an emergency operation to save her life.
Yesterday, as the bar was fined £100,000, she said: ‘What happened has had a devastating impact on my health, and nothing i s going to change t hat, but I am relieved that the court case has finally come to an end.
‘ I would never have touched the drink i f I’d known what it would do and I would urge other people to avoid them.
‘If there’s even the smallest chance that the same thing could happen to someone else, then these drinks shouldn’t be served at all.’
Preston Crown Court heard the bar had been warned about the risks of using the gas to create a smoking effect and advised about the ‘ten second rule’ – waiting ten seconds after pouring the drink before it was safe to consume.
Barry Berlin, prosecuting, said: ‘They knew it was dangerous and didn’t properly police it. The investigation uncovered severe systematic failures by the company and its owners.’ He said the incident happened in October 2012 when Miss Scanlon went to Oscar’s Wine Bar in Lancaster with three friends. He said: ‘She orders a cool shot of Nitro Jagermeister. Four shots are poured and all four members of the party drink them before two more shots are poured.
‘ Immediately after consuming the second drink she is violently ill, vomiting and smoking from her nose and mouth. The liquid nitrogen hits her stomach and begins killing her internal tissue. Her stomach had to be removed and her bowel con- nected to her oesophagus.
‘The surgeon said if it had not been removed she would have died.’
In a victim impact statement Miss Scanlon, 20, who still receives medical treatment, said she felt the explosive reaction immediately after consuming the second cocktail. She said: ‘I turned to the man and asked if it was okay to drink. It was maybe four seconds after the drink being poured and me drinking it. The smoke reaction was like a cloud.
‘The manager said nothing about having to wait until it stopped smoking.’
Oscar’s Wine Bar, owned by Andrew Dunn, claimed it had discussed the dangers of using l i quid nitrogen in drinks with an expert and had relied on him for advice.
It said it had devised a tensecond rule which would allow the nitrogen to turn from a liquid into gas and make the cocktail safe.
The wine bar pleaded guilty previously to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act. Yesterday it was fined £100,000 with £40,000 costs.
Public health expert Dr John Ashton has said that Miss Scanlon had been the victim of an ‘irresponsible drinks industry’ which used dangerous gimmicks to sell more alcohol.
He said: ‘People should not be playing chemistry in public houses.
‘This is a very, very cold substance and is similar to subjecting your stomach to frostbite.’
‘Smoke coming from her nose’