‘NOT A ONE-OFF’

Pub Chef Sentenced for Killing 1, Poisoning 31 With Undercooked Shepherd’s Pie

A pub cook has been sentenced after a pie served at a 2018 village harvest festival caused one woman to die of an internal hemorrhage after she was unable to stop vomiting.

An English chef has been sentenced for serving an undercooked shepherd's pie at a village harvest festival and giving all 32 people who ate it food poisoning, killing one 92-year-old woman. John Croucher, a cook at the Crewe Arms in Hinton-in-the-Hedges, Northamptonshire, was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, The Guardian reports. He admitted to contravening food regulations by only partially cooking the pie meat. In court, Croucher, 40, explained he had been “rushing.”

Of the 35 villagers who went to the Holy Trinity Church for a meal on Oct. 8, 2018, only three vegetarians escaped unscathed, the court heard. Elizabeth Neuman, unable to stop vomiting, was rushed to the hospital and died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The judge, in passing sentencing, turned a skeptical eye on the Crewe Arms itself, saying, “Looking at the evidence, this was not a one-off mistake. The pub should have been taking steps to be improving. Inspections in 2015 gave it three stars and in 2017 gave it only one star.” Representing himself at his trial, Croucher said, “Remorse is an understatement. This is something I will never forget. Because of it, I am a better chef and it is just a shame the cost of it had to be what it was.”