Takeaway bosses Mohammed Abdul Kuddus and Harun Rashid have been found guilty of the manslaughter by gross negligence of Megan Lee, a 15-year-old who suffered an allergic reaction after ordering food from the Royal Spice in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire.
Megan reportedly had shared a takeaway meal from a friend’s house and Megan, who has a nut allergy, had an “immediate reaction” after eating a seekh kebab starter. She had reportedly told her friend her mouth “feels funny, a bit tingly.”
The jury at Manchester Crown Court found Rashid guilty of failing to discharge a general duty of employers, contrary to the Health and Safety at Work Act, and another count of failing to put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures in contravention of European Union food safety regulations, reported Birmingham Mail.
Kuddus had already pleaded guilty to those two charges on behalf of himself and on behalf of the Royal Spice Takeaway Ltd.
Megan suffered an allergic reaction to food ordered from the Royal Spice, in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, on December 30, 2016, and she died two days later.
Megan’s friend ordered the food through the Just Eat website and she had reportedly written “prawns, nuts” in the comments and notes section. However, the meal was found to have the “widespread presence” of peanut protein.
In a statement read to the court, Megan’s mother said: “Looking at her there was nothing unusual or threatening with Megan’s appearance and the signs were nothing that I had not seen before.
“On the way home Megan seemed fine, extremely chatty and telling me what she had bought from shopping, joking about having the reaction.”
They arrived home just after 7 pm on December 30, 2016, and she drank water in the kitchen before going upstairs to get ready for bed. “After 15 minutes I heard her shout ‘mum’. It was the way she shouted that made me get up so quickly,” said her mom.
“Megan was panicking. I didn’t know if the struggling to breathe was a panic attack.
“I told Megan to calm down and that I would help and she would be OK.”
After she called for an ambulance, she went on to give heart compressions until the paramedics arrived. Megan was immediately taken to a hospital and she died on January 1 after she suffered irreversible brain damage, the court heard.
