Two salmonella deaths 'linked to' Blackhall butchers

Stewart Graham and Sandra Blake died after contracting salmonella in 2018

Two people died of health complications from salmonella after eating infected pork from a butchers, an inquest found.

Sandra Blake, 68, and Stewart Graham, 66, separately contracted the infection in February 2018 and later died.

Teesside Coroner's Court heard they had eaten meat from Chapman and Sons in Blackhall Colliery in County Durham.

Recording a narrative verdict, assistant coroner Karin Welsh said the pair died of natural causes contributed to by the effects of salmonella.

She said environmental health officers had identified potential issues with hand washing at the butcher's shop, which shut shortly after the outbreak.

The inquest heard that cooked pork from the shop contained the same strain of the bug as found in those taken ill.

Mrs Blake and Mr Graham, who both had underlying health conditions, were among 28 people infected in the outbreak in east Durham, with 23 cases linked to Chapman and Sons butchers "beyond reasonable doubt".

Chapman and Sons closed shortly after the salmonella outbreak in 2018

The pair, from Blackhall Colliery, suffered symptoms including sickness and diarrhoea.

Mrs Blake was visited at home by a GP and was admitted to North Tees Hospital on 14 February before she died two weeks later.

Her husband, Heath, also fell ill on the same day as his wife but survived.

Mr Graham, a father-of-five and former coach at Sunderland FC, was well known in the area. He was found dead in his Shotton Colliery home on 21 February.

Solicitors acting for both families said civil cases in connection with the deaths had both been settled.

Jatinder Paul, senior associate at Irwin Mitchell representing the families, said: "Sandra's and Stewart's avoidable deaths have had a profound impact on their families who understandably are still struggling to come to terms with what happened to them."