Wine bar fined £100,000 after serving liquid nitrogen in cocktail
A LANCASTER wine bar in which a woman drank a cocktail containing liquid nitrogen has been fined £100,000.
Gaby Scanlon from Heysham was celebrating her 18th birthday in 2012 in Oscar’s Wine Bar when she was served the £3.95 shot of Nitro-Jagermeiste. She later had her stomach removed in Lancaster Royal Infirmary.
The BBC reported that at Preston Crown Court, Oscar’s Wine Bar, registered in Swinton, South Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to one count of failing in the duty of an employer to ensure the safety of persons not in its employment, admitting it failed to ensure the shot cocktail was safe for consumption.
No risk assessment had been undertaken over the potential dangers of the drinks.
Oscar’s Andrew Dunn, of Old Earswick, York, pleaded not guilty to his part in the company’s failings.
The prosecution said it would offer no evidence against him if he made a £20,000 contribution to the court costs prior to sentencing.
A spokesman for Lancaster City Council was reported as saying: “We took the view that in the public interest it was not necessary to prosecute Mr Dunn, taking into account the interests of the family.”
‘Safety concerns’
Passing sentence, Judge Pamela Badley said the bar’s actions “fell very far short of standards”.
