Source: Lancashire County Council published on this website Friday 9 August 2024 by Jill Powell

Two recent prosecutions highlight Trading Standards' vital work to ensure that food premises focus on the importance of food allergies.

All food businesses in the UK have a legal responsibility to provide accurate allergen information to all customers that request it, and ultimately to provide food that is safe for people with allergies.

Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards food officers regularly test that food premises are meeting their responsibilities through an allergens sampling programme. Businesses found to have failed to take sufficient measures to ensure a person with specific allergies is not inadvertently supplied with food that may trigger an allergic reaction face further compliance checks.

Not doing so can have fatal consequences, as was the case with 15-year-old Megan Lee, who suffered a fatal asthma attack in 2017 after unknowingly eating a takeaway meal containing peanuts.

Following the tragedy, Megan's parents, Gemma and Adam Lee, worked with Lancashire County Council's Trading Standards officers to produce Megan's Story, a short film featuring treasured photos and video of the Oswaldtwistle schoolgirl growing up, to make businesses aware of the risks associated with allergens and ensure other families don't have to go through the same ordeal:

Two recent prosecutions demonstrate the serious consequences businesses face if they continue to fail in their duties to keep allergen sufferers safe.

The two takeaway establishments failed to ensure the safety of their food for allergy sufferers, despite receiving specific advice about the need to make improvements prior to formal action.

On 26 October 2022, a trading standards food officer posing as a customer with a milk allergy purchased a lamb seekh kebab on chapati from Mansha Sweet Centre, a takeaway in Nelson which has three other branches in the North West. It was found to contain milk protein at a level potentially harmful if consumed by someone with a milk allergy.

As a result, the business owner Mansha Sweets Limited appeared at Blackburn Magistrates court on 10 July and pled guilty to two charges of supplying food that was injurious to health and not of the nature demanded by the purchaser. The company must now pay £7229.72 in fines, a victim surcharge, and costs.

Eastern Promise Takeaway in Accrington was visited by a trading standards officer on 6 February 2023. Despite declaring a milk allergy at the time of ordering, the chicken curry purchased by the officer was also found to contain milk protein at a potentially harmful level to an allergy sufferer.

Shop owner Rafiq Hussain, 31, of Tremellyn Street, Accrington was charged with the same offences. At Blackburn Magistrates Court on 19 June, 2024 he was sentenced and must pay £1,212 in fines, surcharge, and costs.

Megan Lee's parents, Gemma and Adam, said: “We thank Lancashire Trading Standards  who continue to take action on food businesses that fail to comply with the law. This is vital work that protects the consumer and raises awareness of the dangers of allergies.

"We urge all food businesses to access the training material and resources that are freely available to them, as the consequences of getting it wrong could cost another life. There really is no excuse to be negligent in the area of allergen control.”

Councillor Michael Green, Lancashire County Council cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing, said: "The unforgettable Megan's Story campaign led by Megan's brave parents has made a lasting impression on everyone who saw it. Our Trading Standards team, in memory of Megan, will always do everything in their power to continue to raise awareness of the importance of food allergens.

"The failures by these two takeaways could have had severe consequences if a person with a milk allergy had then consumed the food, which is why it is so important that our officers continue with their programme of covert food sampling.

"Well done to our Trading Standards team for their important work on this. We will continue to ensure that we do everything in our power to raise awareness of this vital issue.

"Symptoms of an allergy to milk can range from relatively mild symptoms such as swelling of the lips and face, vomiting and nausea, through to severe symptoms including difficulty breathing and unconsciousness, and even death.

"Reactions are unpredictable and there is no reliable way of knowing how an individual may react even with low levels of the allergen. It is crucial that food businesses take all necessary precautions to prevent inadvertent inclusion or cross-contamination of allergens in their food."

Lancashire County Council has a dedicated web page titled 'Allergen Information for Food Businesses' which contains  guidance, and links to specific training around allergens: https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/business/trading-standards/allergy-information-for-food-businesses/

Source: Lancashire Constabulary published on this website Friday 14 June 2024 by Jill Powell

A childminder has on 13^th June been jailed for killing a baby under her care in Hapton. 

Baby Harlow Collinge suffered injuries consistent with being violently shaken by defendant Karen Foster at her former home in Mill Lane.

Colleagues at the North West Ambulance Service were called at 1.19pm on 1^st March 2022 following a report that nine-month old Harlow was in cardiac arrest. He was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital where it was discovered he had a significant and non-accidental injury to his brain.

Due to the nature and severity of Harlow’s brain injury and having given a number of conflicting accounts of how this injury was sustained, Foster was arrested at that time on suspicion of Section 18 grievous bodily harm. Despite the best efforts of medical professionals, Harlow sadly died on 5^th March 2022 surrounded by his loved ones.

A post mortem examination revealed that Harlow’s cause of death was inflicted traumatic brain injury. Foster was further arrested on suspicion of murder. Following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, 62-year-old Foster was charged with Harlow’s murder.

After two years, faced with the indisputable and overwhelming evidence that she was responsible for killing Harlow, Foster pleaded guilty to his manslaughter when she appeared in the dock at Preston Crown Court last week.

Foster, now of no fixed address, appeared at the same court today where Mr Justice Cotter jailed her for 12 years and seven months. 

Source Norfolk Police published on this website Friday 19 July 2024 by Jill Powell

A Norfolk headteacher has been found guilty of harassing a colleague who said she lived in constant fear of his reprimands and hounding. Gregory Hill, age 48, of Valley Way, Fakenham, appeared at  Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court Thursday 18 July 2024 and was found guilty of one count of harassment between 12 March 2022 and 22 February 2023, and another count of resisting arrest on 6 March 2023.

Hill had pleaded not guilty to both counts. During the trial, the court heard the victim joined the school where Hill was headteacher in September 2021 as a newly qualified teacher. It was her first teaching job. At first, Hill’s messages to the victim, which he sent from the school’s social media accounts, were work related but became personal from February 2022 onwards.

On one occasion, Hill messaged her: "Can’t wait to see this smile, this beautiful face and wonderful person tomorrow." Another time, he messaged: “I’d love to build a future for us in school and outside of school xx.”

The victim told Hill she did not want a personal relationship with him, and he continued to harass her up until 19 February 2023 when she reported his behaviour to police.

Over the course of 12 months Hill claimed he had “fallen in love” with the victim, continued messaging her on social media, insisted she join him on a school trip instead of colleagues, and blamed a “slip of the finger” for a WhatsApp telephone call he made to her just before midnight one evening.

A witness explained to police how she had seen Hill photographing the victim’s car while she was visiting a family member. The victim was also told that Hill had been using Facebook to try to find information about her.

On one occasion, when the victim requested a meeting with school officials to discuss his “continued unwanted behaviour”, she was confronted by Hill who said she was responsible for “putting his job at risk” and making him and his elderly mother “homeless.”

In a Victim Personal Statement she described Hill’s messages as a “constant drain on me both mentally and physically, he was always hounding me with messages and emails late at night.

“I was never able to relax or have any personal time as there was a clear expectation from him that I replied to his every communication. When I failed to do this, he took this personally and I then received a barrage of negativity from him.

“As time progressed at school my behaviours changed. I found that I did not want to be alone in case this led to Mr Hill taking the opportunity to come into class to discuss things with me.

“I have never suffered with anxiety and have been able to handle any challenges that have been thrown at me…I started to struggle with sleeping and would have nightmares…I had concerns that Mr Hill was aware of my movements and this led to a fear of seeing him when I was out and about.

“These last few years have completely changed me as a person and I do not know if I will ever return to the person I once was.”

Plain clothes officers arrived at Hill’s school to arrest him shortly before 9am on 6 March 2023.

The court was told how Hill resisted arrest for 33 minutes: he prevented officers from putting him in handcuffs, grabbed hold of a hedgerow and refused to let go, claimed officers were trying to break his wrist and his arms, bit his own lip and pretended to pass out.

Detective Constable Claire Lordan, who led the investigation, said: “Hill exploited and abused his position, he was someone who was trusted by parents and the wider community. His behaviour and treatment of a younger colleague, who was just starting out in her career, shows he thought he could behave exactly how he wanted, and get away with it time and time again.

"When he should have been supporting a young woman in her first teaching position, he was self-serving, constantly seeking out opportunities for contact and attention from her, affecting her work and personal life, making her afraid and afraid to be alone.

“I know it wasn’t easy for her to come forward and continue with this investigation and court case, and she deserves all our thanks for having the courage to tell us what was happening because his behaviour needed to stop.”

The hearing was adjourned until 2 September 2024 for sentencing.

Source: Kent Police published on this website Wednesday 12 June 2024 by Jill Powell

A former Kent Police officer has been charged with rape, sexual assault and misconduct in a public office.

Jamie Woodhams was the subject of an investigation by detectives from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate after a report made to the force in October 2022.

The 51-year-old, of Ashford, has now been charged with six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

The charges relate to alleged offences against two women in Kent and elsewhere between 2006 and 2022.

He is also charged with three counts of misconduct in a public office, relating to alleged relationships he formed with women he had met during the course of his duties.

Mr Woodhams, who resigned from the force in April 2022, will appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 27 June.