One person dead and thirty-one intoxicated after a lunch of shepherd's pie, a pie of minced lamb.

A table that ended in tragedy in the village of Hinton in the Hedges, Northamptonshire, England. The incident took place in 2018, but yesterday - reports the Guardian - the chef's sentence arrived.

John Croucher, head chef of the "Crew Arms" pub at the time in charge of the kitchen, was sentenced to four months in prison and a year of suspension on charges of "contravening food law".

These are the words of Sarah Campbell, County judge: “On 8 October 2018, 35 villagers went to the Crewe Arms for the community lunch: 32 ate shepherd's pie. Elizabeth Neumand, a 92-year-old woman without pathologies, died of a gastrointestinal haemorrhage, everyone else was terribly ill ”.

Croucher was at the stove that day: “The mince - continued the judge -, prepared in a hurry, was cooked for a short time, then wrapped in plastic wrap and placed in the refrigerator for one night. The next day it was cooked again and served with hot mashed potatoes, without checking that it was cooked correctly or the temperature at the time of serving ".

Meat cooked lightly and poorly, therefore, not enough to make it lose its viral load.

A serious negligence also admitted by the chef: “I hate having to admit it, but I was in a hurry, this episode marked my life and now I know that I always have to check everything. Today I feel like a better chef, too bad for the price I had to pay ”.

(Unioneonline / L)

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