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British restaurant owner sent to prison after causing death of a diner

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A restaurant owner on North Yorkshire, England was sent to prison for switching ingredients in a dish that eventually killed the diner who ate the dish.On Monday, Mohammed Zaman, 52, was found guilty and sentenced to six years in prison. This is not , apparently, the first time Zaman has worked such substitutions.

In the deadly dish, Zaman decided to substitute ground almonds with ground peanuts because the peanuts were so much cheaper. His diner, Paul Wilson, 38, had a peanut allergy and felt safe ordering the dish because he saw there were almonds in it. Wilson, however, went into almost immediate anaphylactic shock and died soon after back in January of 2014.

Mohammed Zaman

Mohammed Zaman

It had become known in his immediate circles that Zaman was using cheaper ingredients because he was in debt to the tune of $435,000. Even a young 17 year old boy who had a severe reaction to the peanuts just a few weeks before Wilson’s death did not seem to deter Zaman from continuing his deceptive practices. Wilson had even mentioned that he was not to have the nuts in his meal.

The jury found Zaman guilty and seemed to agree with the prosecutor that Zaman had shown reckless disregard for the life of another. the judge in the case who sentenced Zaman stated that Zaman cared nothing for the young boy who had been rushed to a nearby hospital just weeks before Wilson’s death and that he continued to ignore warnings about his behavior. The judge had no qualms about sentencing Zaman to some serious prison time.

Wilson’s family attended the trial and were there for the sentencing. Wilson died from taking only one bite of the take out order from Zaman. Entered into evidence was even the package that Wilson’s meal had come in. It had “no nuts” written on it.

PHOTO CREDIT: Pixabay / BBC