A MAN with a severe peanut allergy died after eating a curry from a Yorkshire restaurant whose owner repeatedly ignored warnings that he could be putting customers’ lives at risk, a court has heard. 
 
 Paul Wilson, 38, was found dead at his home in Helperby, North Yorkshire, after buying a takeaway containing peanuts from the Indian Garden restaurant owned by Mohammed Zaman in January 2014, Teesside Crown Court was told. 
 
 Customer Paul Wilson 
 
 Zaman, 53, has gone on trial accused of Mr Wilson’s manslaughter after he took a “reckless and cavalier attitude to risk” and “put profit before safety” at the restaurants he owned, the jury heard. 
 
 Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, told the court Zaman had swapped from using almond powder to the cheaper groundnut powder, containing peanuts, in June 2013 but, despite a warning from his supplier, did not warn customers that he was using peanut ingredients. 
 
 Just weeks before Mr Wilson died, a 17-year-old girl was treated in hospital for a reaction caused by a peanut allergy after eating a curry from another restaurant owned by Zaman, the court heard. 
 
 She was assured by staff that the meal would not contain peanuts, the jury was told. 
 
 Mr Wright said that a week before Mr Wilson’s death, a trading standards officer found evidence of peanuts in a meal she had been told was peanut-free and discovered a box labelled blanched ground peanut in the kitchen of Zaman’s Jaipur Spice restaurant in Easingwold, North Yorkshire. 
 
 She told staff that customers in all of Zaman’s restaurants must be informed they were using peanuts, the court heard. 
 
 Mr Wright said that, on the night of his death on January 30 2014, Mr Wilson told staff at the Indian Garden restaurant, in Easingwold, that his meal must be nut-free. 
 
 He said the restaurant had written “no nuts” on his order and on the lid of his curry. 
 
 Mr Wright said: “Mohammed Zaman received numerous warnings that he was putting his customers’ health, and potentially their lives, at risk. 
 
 “Tragically for Paul Wilson, Mohammed Zaman took none of those opportunities and ignored all of the warnings he was given. 
 
 “His was a reckless and cavalier attitude to risk and one that we, the prosecution, would describe as grossly negligent.” 
 
 Mr Wright added: “Time and again he ignored the danger and did not protect his customers. 
 
 “The evidence will establish that Mohammed Zaman put profit before safety and that he cut corners at every turn.” 
 
 Zaman blamed others when he was interviewed by police and “took no personal responsibility”, Mr Wright said. 
 
 The court heard that, after requests from trading standards, signs were displayed in Zaman’s restaurants stating that meals could not be guaranteed nut-free. 
 
 But Mr Wright said a test purchaser went to the Indian Garden the day after Mr Wilson’s death and was assured by a staff member that they could buy a nut-free curry. 
 
 On the same day, Zaman rang his supplier and asked to swap his remaining groundnut powder for almond, the court heard. 
 
 Mr Wright said: “At last, Mohammed Zaman did something responsible to protect his customers. But it was too little and for Paul Wilson it was tragically too late.” 
 
 Zaman, from Huntington, York, denies manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice and six food safety offences. 
 
 The trial continues. ||||| A YORKSHIRE curry restaurant owner with a “cavalier attitude” to safety was today beginning a six-year jail term for the manslaughter of a customer with a nut allergy, after he supplied him with a curry containing peanuts. 
 
 Paul Wilson, 38, was meticulous about his condition and asked for “no nuts” when staff at the Indian Garden, Easingwold, North Yorkshire, cooked his chicken tikka masala takeaway. 
 
 Bar manager Mr Wilson was found slumped in the toilet at his home in Helperby in January 2014 and had died from a severe anaphylactic shock. 
 
 Restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter following a trial at Teesside Crown Court at which the jury was told he swapped almond powder in recipes for cheaper groundnut mix, containing peanuts, despite warnings. 
 
 The case is thought to be a legal first which sets a precedent for food suppliers. 
 
 Previously: Peanut allergy diner died after Yorkshire Indian restaurant owner ‘ignored repeated warnings’ 
 
 Keith and Margaret Wilson, whose son Paul Wilson died after eating a takeaway curry from the Indian Garden, Easingwold 
 
 The curry that killed him: Video shows allergy sufferer Paul Wilson ordering meal from Yorkshire restaurant 
 
 Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, the Recorder of Middlesbrough, said Zaman had made a success of himself since coming to this country more than 40 years ago, building up his businesses and gathering a property portfoilio worth more than £2 million. 
 
 “You threw all that away,” the judge said. “You have done so in pursuit of profit. 
 
 “You have done so in such a manner as to bring about the death of another individual. 
 
 Restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman (right) leaving Teesside Crown Court 
 
 “Paul Wilson was in the prime of his life. 
 
 “He, like you, worked in the catering trade. He, unlike you, was a careful man.” 
 
 The judge said Zaman ignored warnings from officials after 17-year-old Ruby Scott suffered a reaction to a curry, three weeks before Mr Wilson’s death. 
 
 He could have destroyed the groundnut mix then, but decided to continue to use it at his restaurants. 
 
 The judge said Zaman had told “many lies” to the jury, adding: “You remain in complete and utter denial for what you have done.” 
 
 This was not a “transitory” case of gross negligence, but one lasting seven months - from his fateful decision to switch almond for groundnut in June 2013. 
 
 The court heard that Zaman, who owned six restaurants in York and North Yorkshire, was almost £300,000 in debt and cut costs by using the cheaper ingredient and by employing untrained, illegal workers. 
 
 Mr Wilson bought a takeaway from the Indian Garden in Easingwold, North Yorkshire, in January 2014. 
 
 After eating very little of it, he was found slumped in the toilet at his home in Helperby by his housemate. He died from a severe anaphylactic shock. 
 
 Zaman was convicted of gross negligence manslaughter after the jury was told he swapped almond powder in recipes for the cheaper groundnut mix, despite warnings that it could endanger customers with allergies. 
 
 After the verdict, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it showed that food suppliers had a duty of care towards their customers. 
 
 Zaman, who owned six restaurants in York and North Yorkshire, cut costs by using the cheaper ingredient and by employing untrained, illegal workers. 
 
 The prosecution said the owner had “put profit before safety” at the restaurants he owned. 
 
 Zaman denied manslaughter by gross negligence, perverting the course of justice and six food safety offences. He was found guilty of all charges except perverting the course of justice. 
 
 He claimed he left managers to run his restaurants and that included ordering stock and hiring staff. He was not on the premises when the curry was sold. 
 
 Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, said: “Mohammed Zaman received numerous warnings that he was putting his customers’ health, and potentially their lives, at risk. 
 
 “Tragically for Paul Wilson, Mohammed Zaman took none of those opportunities and ignored all of the warnings he was given. 
 
 “His was a reckless and cavalier attitude to risk and one that we, the prosecution, would describe as grossly negligent.” 
 
 Mr Wilson’s parents, Keith and Margaret, from Sheffield, said their son had carefully managed his condition since he was seven when he had a reaction to a Marathon chocolate bar. 
 
 He loved curry but was always clear when ordering that his food must not contain nuts. 
 
 They said: “Justice has been served, Paul can rest in peace. 
 
 “We can’t go back and change the past, all we can do is focus on the present and the future and making things right. Don’t let this happen again.” 
 
 Outside court, Detective Inspector Shaun Page said Mr Wilson’s death was “totally avoidable”. 
 
 He added: “We have shown Zaman had a duty of care to serve safe food. 
 
 “He has breached that duty to a criminal standard.” 
 
 Martin Goldman, chief crown prosecutor with CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “In this conviction, the CPS has sent a very clear message to the catering industry: there is a duty of care to your customers. 
 
 “If you ignore your responsibilities and regulations and put lives at real risk then we will not hesitate to prosecute.” 
 
 Alistair Webster QC, defending, said Zaman was a hard-working family man with no previous convictions. ||||| LONDON — The owner of an Indian restaurant in Britain with a “cavalier attitude” to food safety was found guilty on Monday of causing the death of a customer who had a severe allergy, after he was served a dish containing peanuts. The owner received a six-year sentence. 
 
 It marked the first time in Britain that someone has been convicted of manslaughter over the sale of food. 
 
 The customer, Paul Wilson, 38, ordered chicken tikka masala, to go, from the Indian Garden restaurant in North Yorkshire in January 2014, having specified “no nuts” in his order. 
 
 Mr. Wilson had diligently avoided peanuts and dishes made with them ever since he had a severe reaction to eating a chocolate bar with peanuts when he was 7 years old. He was “very, very careful,” his mother, Margaret, said, especially when ordering his favorite meal. 
 
 Mr. Wilson had eaten food from Indian Garden before, and the restaurant had gone so far as to write “no nuts” on the lid of his curry container. 
 
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 But after just one bite of what would be his last meal, Mr. Wilson had an allergic reaction. His roommate found him slumped on his toilet at home, where he had gone into anaphylactic shock and died. 
 
 Prosecutors said that the restaurateur, Mohammed Zaman, 52, who owns six restaurants, was about 300,000 pounds, or about $434,000, in debt. He had cut corners, they said, replacing almond powder in his recipes six months earlier with a cheaper mix of groundnuts, and hiring untrained, undocumented workers to turn out the popular curry dishes at his restaurants. 
 
 Another customer with a nut allergy had to be treated at a hospital after eating at Mr. Zaman’s restaurant three weeks before Mr. Wilson’s death. Like him, she had been assured her meal would not contain nuts, prosecutors said. 
 
 Mr. Zaman was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence in the death of Mr. Wilson, and six food safety offenses. He was sentenced to six years in prison. 
 
 He had a “reckless and cavalier attitude to risk,” the prosecutor, Richard Wright, told a jury at Teesside Crown Court. 
 
 “Time and again he ignored the danger and did not protect his customers,” Mr. Wright said at trial, adding that Mr. Zaman had “put profit before safety, and he cut corners at every turn.” 
 
 Mr. Zaman had said that he left his employees to run his restaurants, including ordering the ingredients and preparing the dishes, and that he was not even on the premises when the deadly curry was prepared. 
 
 Shaun Page, a detective inspector on the case, said that Mr. Zaman had a duty to serve safe food to his customers and that Mr. Wilson’s death was “totally avoidable.” 
 
 According to Allergy UK, a nonprofit group, about 1 percent of Britons are allergic to peanuts. Up to 1.3 percent of Americans are allergic — as many as four million people, according to Food Allergy Research and Education. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that the number of children with food allergies is rising.
– A most unusual manslaughter trial is unfolding in the UK, one that revolves around "death by curry," as a post at Munchies puts it. Prosecutors accuse restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman of subbing in peanuts for almonds in his ground mix to save money and deliberately concealing the switch to customers, reports the BBC. That proved deadly for 38-year-old Paul Wilson of North Yorkshire, who picked up a take-out order from Indian Garden from in Easingwold and later died after going into anaphylactic shock. Wilson suffered from a severe peanut allergy, something he pointed out to the staff—the words "no nuts" were written on the lid of his order. A few weeks before his death, a 17-year-old girl nearly died after eating food from another one of Zaman's restaurants, reports the Telegraph. When her mother called afterward to ask whether it contained peanuts, she was told it did not, say prosecutors. After that incident, an inspector found a box of ground peanuts in a kitchen of one of Zaman's restaurants and ordered that all of his customers be informed about its use, something that allegedly never happened. "Mohammed Zaman received numerous warnings that he was putting his customers’ health, and potentially their lives, at risk," says a prosecutor, per the Yorkshire Post. "His was a reckless and cavalier attitude to risk and one that we, the prosecution, would describe as grossly negligent.” Zaman, strapped for cash, allegedly told his food supplier to sub in peanuts in order to cut his cost in half, then ignored the supplier's demand that he inform customers of the change. He has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter charge. (A California couple says they were booted from their flight over their son's peanut allergy.)