Takeaway workers guilty of manslaughter after girl's allergic reaction death

[steven36]

Megan Lee, 15, died after reacting to the meal she ordered from the takeaway through the JustEat app

 

Taking a break from revising for her mock GCSEs, 15-year-old Megan Lee and a friend decided to treat themselves to a takeaway.

 

No-one could have foreseen the fateful consequences that would follow.

 

It is something most families up and down the country do, ring up their favourite takeaway or order online.

 

But it would cost Megan her life.

 

The takeaway they ordered from, the Royal Spice in her hometown of Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire, was full of mouse droppings, dirty appliances and uncleaned pans piled on top of one another.

 

It was not this that killed Megan, but her allergy to nuts.

 

Their order was placed via the JustEat app, and sent through to the Royal Spice.

 

The order included a Peshwari naan, onion bhaji and a seekh kebab.

 

The latter two dishes would not ordinarily contain nuts, prosecutors said, with the naan possibly containing an almond paste or coconut as an ingredient.

 

As part of their order, the girls filled in the comments section of the order form with the words ‘prawns, nuts’.

 

he prosecution said 'no attention' was paid to this by the takeaway.

 

They told jurors that even if the comment was unclear, the takeaway should have at least rang them up to check what it meant.

 

Now the jury has agreed with the prosecution, and that takeaway manager Harun Rashid and owner Mohammed Kuddus failed in their duty of care to their customers.

 

Both have been convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence.

 

The judge told them both to prepare for a prison sentence after they were unanimously found guilty by a jury on Friday afternoon.

 

Despite the girls' comment on the order form, the food arrived at Megan's friend's house after being delivered by Rashid.

 

She began to feel some ill-effects after eating the kebab, but started to feel better after taking some antihistamines.

 

She carried on eating without problem, until returning home.

 

It became apparent that she had a rash on her left cheek, but there didn’t appear to be any further discomfort.

 

After arriving home, Megan got ready for bed upstairs.

 

But shortly after, Megan’s mum began to hear her daughter shouting for her.

 

Her lips were swollen and blue, and she was struggling to breathe.

 

Her mother desperately tried to help and called an ambulance.

 

Efforts to revive her failed, as she had suffered fatal brain damage.

 

She was pronounced dead on the morning on New Year’s Day.

 

A post mortem found that Megan’s cause of death was a fatal asthma attack, caused by an allergic reaction to nuts.

 

After Megan's death, an investigation was launched.

 

Source