Food seller jailed after man dies eating groundnut meal

A restaurant owner in north-eastern England was sentenced to six years in prison on Monday after he was convicted of causing the death of customer with a peanut allergy. Mohammed Zaman, 53, was convicted of causing the death of 38-year-old Paul Wilson, who developed severe anaphylactic shock after he started eating a takeaway meal from Zaman’s Indian Garden restaurant in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, in 2014. Teesside Crown Court found Zaman, who denied all charges, guilty of manslaughter through gross negligence, in what is believed to be a legal first. He was also found guilty of employing illegal workers. Meanwhile, Zaman ran six restaurants in North Yorkshire. “He was heavily indebted and had used a cheaper peanut-based powder to replace almond powder in curries at the Indian Garden,’’ prosecutors said. The Crown Prosecution Service said Zaman had received several warnings about the potential harm to people with peanut allergies, but he had taken a reckless and cavalier attitude to risk.(NAN)