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A Restaurant Owner Has Been Charged with Manslaughter Over Death by Curry

In a landmark legal decision, a jury has found Mohammed Zaman guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences, after prosecutors charged him with being responsible for the death of a customer who had a severe peanut allergy.

Alleged reckless restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman is now convicted reckless restaurant owner Mohammed Zaman.

In a landmark legal decision, a jury has found Zaman guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence and six food safety offences, after prosecutors charged him with being responsible for the death of a customer who had a severe peanut allergy.

In January 2014, Paul Wilson, a pub manager from North Yorkshire ordered a chicken tikka masala from the Indian Garden, and specifically asked for "no nuts" in his order. But shortly after eating the curry dish, Wilson went into severe anaphylactic shock and died.

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READ MORE: A Restaurant Owner Faces Manslaughter Charges Over Death by Curry

Prosecutors alleged that Zaman knowingly used a cheaper ground nut powder that contained potentially lethal peanuts, instead of the usual almond powder, in the curries at his Indian Garden restaurant—a thesis that the jury evidently bought.

Judge Simon Bourne-Arton sentenced Zaman to six years in prison, but not before giving him a proper tongue lashing for throwing away his livelihood—and someone else's life —for the sake of saving money, according to the Daily Mail.

"You threw all that away," he 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. Paul Wilson was in the prime of his life. He, like you, worked in the catering trade. He, unlike you, was a careful man."

During his trial, it was revealed that Zaman was more than 300,000 pounds in debt, and despite owning a 2 million pound property portfolio, was pinching pennies with nut powders. The prosecution also presented evidence that a 17-year-old girl with a peanut allergy had to be treated at a hospital after eating one of Zaman's curries. Luckily, she was treated with an EpiPen and didn't die.

Despite what police called Zaman's "lack of remorse," this case is expected to send a very clear message to those working in the restaurant industries who are confronted with cases of severe allergies.