Restaurant fined for sausage exploding in woman's face

- Published: 16 April, 2007

The owner of a Portuguese restaurant has been fined £4,000 plus £2,000 costs after a sausage dish covered in flaming alcohol exploded in a woman's face.

The court heard the woman suffered severe burns and will be scarred for life in an incident the victim described "as if someone had put a flame-thrower to my face."

Rui Daniel Faria Velosa, who owns Sporting Clube de Londres in west London, pleaded guilty to the charges brought by Kensington and Chelsea Council.

The court was told the restaurant had not carried out a suitable and sufficient risk assessment of how to safely serve the dish with the flammable liquid and had not implemented the necessary control measures to prevent accidents happening. They had also failed to report the accident to the council.

After the incident, which happened in May 2005, the victim spent two weeks in hospital and needed two major skin graft operations.

She will need to wear pressure garments on both hands for 23 hours a day for up to two years. She also suffers from flash-backs and panic attacks.