TWO MEN HAVE been convicted of manslaughter after a 15-year-old girl died following a severe allergic reaction to a takeaway meal in the UK.
On 30 December 2016, Megan Lee and a friend ordered a takeaway from the Royal Spice online via the JustEat website.
She left a note in the comments section of the order alerting the takeaway to her nut allergy, but workers failed to take appropriate action.
After eating some of the meal, Lee began to suffer an allergic reaction, but she began to feel better after taking antihistamines.
A short time after returning home from her friend’s house, Lee’s condition deteriorated.
She was taken to hospital, but died on 1 January 2017.
Mohammed Kuddus (40), owner and chef at the Royal Spice Takeaway in Lancashire, and Harun Rashid (38), the takeaway manager, both denied responsibility for the death of Lee.
Rashid had denied any responsibility, claiming he was simply the delivery driver.
Kuddus had earlier pleaded guilty to food standards and health and safety offences. These were so extensive that when council offices visited the premises the pair were served with an immediate closure notice.
A jury at Manchester Crown Court has today convicted the pair of gross negligence manslaughter following a trial.
They will be sentenced in due course.
“Megan Lee was a young girl with her whole future ahead of her, but her life was cut short by these men who failed to protect her as their customer,” Karen Tonge from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
“The law required Kuddus and Rashid to take reasonable steps to ensure customer safety and to provide food that was not harmful. Their manifest failures and complete disregard for the safety of the customers was astonishing.
No appropriate systems or conditions were in place to protect Megan or any customer with a known allergy. There was little evidence of any attempt by the defendants to comply with advice and guidance issued to them by the local authority.
“Both men denied responsibility for Megan’s death, however, the CPS built a case which showed the jury that both men were culpable,” Tonge said.
We cannot imagine the loss suffered by Megan’s family and friends and our thoughts are, of course, with them.
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