A LANCASTER wine bar has been fined £100,000 after admitting health and safety breaches which led to a teenage girl having to have her stomach removed.

Gaby Scanlon, of Heysham, was celebrating her 18th birthday at Oscar’s Wine Bar and Bistro on George Street in Lancaster when she drank a cocktail called ‘Nitro Jager’, which contained liquid nitrogen and Jagermeister.

She sustained life-threatening injuries as a result and required an emergency operation to remove her stomach. 

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Following a detailed investigation by Lancaster City Council charges were brought against Oscars Wine Bar Limited, the company which owns the wine bar, under section 3 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. 

At a previous hearing in Preston Crown Court in June, the company pleaded guilty to the charges and accepted that it had failed to ensure the cocktail was safe for customers to consume, that there was a safe system in place to prevent customers being exposed to injury from the consumption of such drinks, and it had not made any suitable and sufficient risk assessment.

At a sentencing hearing today the company, which is registered in Swinton, South Yorkshire, was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £40,000 towards prosecution costs.

Cllr Eileen Blamire, leader of Lancaster City Council, said: “This has been a lengthy and detailed investigation into a serious and life changing incident which could easily have been fatal. I am pleased that the prosecution has now been concluded and hopefully this will provide some closure for the family, although we must not forget that Gaby will be living with the consequences of the injury for the rest of her life. 

“Hopefully lessons have been learned from the incident, not only for the company concerned, but for all other businesses with responsibilities for health and safety of their customers and the wider general public. 

“The council wants to support local businesses to be successful and grow, but if there is one message I would want to get across to businesses it is to encourage early contact with the council or regulator for Health and Safety, to discuss any proposals the business might have to introduce new or untried products or services before making them available to their customers.

“The council is always happy to discuss with businesses the potential risks that might be associated with a new, innovative or novel product, and hopefully avoid similar mistakes in the future.”