James Atkinson inquest: Chef gives evidence at peanut death hearing

James Atkinson died in July 2020

A chef at a restaurant that prepared the food that led to a man's death has told an inquest he would refuse an order from people with an allergy.

James Atkinson, 23, died from a peanut allergy after eating pizza from Dadyal in Newcastle, on 10 July 2020.

There is no evidence to suggest he told staff about his condition.

Chef Muhammad Iqbal, 69, told the inquest he could not dispense an order if he was alerted to a warning about a customer's peanut allergy.

Mr Atkinson, originally from Leeds, had ordered takeaway pizza from Dadyal via the Deliveroo app, and became unwell shortly afterwards.

The inquest at Newcastle Civic Centre heard that the computer programmer died at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary under an hour after ingesting peanuts.

Mr Atkinson's parents, Jill and Stuart, said their son "had a gift of making others happy", and they added that his death had left an "insurmountable hole" in their hearts.

The computer programmer became immediately unwell after eating the pizza

Home Office pathologist Dr Jennifer Bolton said Mr Atkinson had been diagnosed with a peanut allergy ten years ago and had been "very good" at monitoring the allergy.

Examination of the uneaten takeaway food also detected the presence of peanuts, as did analysis of a "nut mix" at the Dadyal restaurant which supplied it, the inquest was told on Monday.

• Peanut death inquest told of blank allergy forms

• Man died from peanut reaction after pizza - inquest

An inspection of the restaurant after Mr Atkinson's death showed that peanut powder had been used in the preparation of the chicken tikka masala pizza.

On Wednesday, environmental health officer Claire George told the hearing that the allergen sections of the restaurant's food safety management documents were later found to be blank.

Mr Iqbal told the inquest on Thursday that he had 30 years of experience and had taken an official food safety course about allergens.

Dadyal, in Howard Street, has been closed for about two years.

The inquest previously heard that Dadyal staff failed to complete food safety documents on allergens

Coroner Karen Dilks asked what he would do if an order contained a warning that the customer had a peanut allergy.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said: "I would have refused."

Mrs Dilks asked if that was because the powder that was available that day to make the masala curry included peanuts.

He replied: "Because if anybody has an allergy with peanuts, you cannot dispense the order."

Restaurant owner Ehsan Ulhaq agreed that although the chicken tikka masala on the menu listed among its ingredients almonds, cashews and coconut, in fact a nut mix powder, which included peanuts, was used.

The owner said there were signs in the restaurant and on menus asking customers to tell staff if they had a food allergy.

The inquest was adjourned until Friday.