Woman tragically killed and 33 poisoned by unsafe pub Christmas dinner
A PUB Christmas dinner killed a customer and poisoned 33 other diners, a court heard yesterday.
Mother-of-one Della Callagher, 46, died after eating the poorly-prepared traditional meal on Christmas Day 2012, the jury was told.
Others were stricken with food poisoning after tucking into re-heated turkey breast, it was alleged.
After the tragedy at the Railway Hotel, Hornchurch, Essex, landlady Anne-Marie McSweeney and chef Mehmet Kaya were appalled.
But they covered up their errors by falsifying the kitchen log, it was alleged.
McSweeney knew Kaya had failed to follow strict safety procedures about cooking, cooling and re-heating the meat, London's Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
Mehmet Kaya grossly mismanaged the preparation of the Christmas turkey
But she did nothing about it, the jury was told.
Andrew Campbell-Tiech, prosecuting, said: "Mehmet Kaya grossly mismanaged the preparation of the Christmas turkey.
"Miss McSweeney was in overall charge. She knew, she must have known, that Mr Kaya did not follow safety procedures.
"She should have intervened. She did not."
The alleged cover-up involved the kitchen log for Christmas Eve. Cooking and cooling temperatures for the turkey were added afterwards, it was alleged.
"Mr Kaya wrote the entries, Miss McSweeney knew it, participated in it and provided the log to the investigating officer," said Mr Campbell-Tiech.
"Their actions in the immediate aftermath were not those of innocent actors caught up in a tragedy not of their making."
Diners started falling ill on Boxing Day, the court heard.
Environmental health officers attended on December 27 to take food samples and examine the kitchen log.
But there was no trace of the Christmas meal and log entries were bogus, said Mr Campbell-Tiech.
Seven other pubs run by Mitchells and Butlers were also found to not be abiding by the company's safety scheme for food preparation, the court heard.
Staff had flouted the rules despite being reminded in a company email only weeks before, the jury was told.
McSweeney, of Hornchurch, denies placing unsafe food on the market, obstructing an officer, and perverting the course of justice.
Kaya, of Purfleet, Essex, denies perverting the course of justice and placing unsafe food on the market.
Mitchells and Butlers denies placing unsafe food on the market.
The trial continues.
