JOHN O'DOHERTY -v- JIMMY LING t/a LING'S HOUSE

Londonderry County Court
18 December 2001
Judge Keegan

The Plaintiff alleged that on the evening of 1 July 2000 he purchased a chicken take-away meal from the Defendant's premises and that on 2 July 2000 he commenced experiencing severe symptoms of Salmonella Enteritis Phage Type 4. He required hospital admission and medical treatment.

The Plaintiff had attended the Water Fortune Restaurant on 30 June and shared a chicken dish in black bean sauce with his wife and two children, none of whom got sick. On 1 July 2000 he attended the Defendant's premises and had the meal that he alleged made him sick. At 9.30pm the following evening he bought a beef burger, chips and drink at Burger King in Coleraine.

Dr R Smithson, Consultant in Communicable Disease Control, gave evidence that of these three possible sources of Salmonella poisoning, the defendant was "a bit more likely"to have been the source. He explained that this was because the Plaintiff was sick only 1 1/2 hours after eating in Burger King, whereas the incubation period for Salmonella was between 6 hours and 72 hours.

The Defendant's Manageress gave evidence of their good track record and Mr Ling gave evidence of the way he prepared chicken dishes.

The Judge said that on the basis of Dr Smithson's report alone he would not have been satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the Defendant's premises had been the source of the food poisoning. In his report Dr Smithson had said that he could not say with certainty where Mr O'Doherty acquired his infection. But, in evidence, Dr Smithson had said that it was "more likely"that the cause of infection was the Defendant's restaurant rather than the other two establishments.

He awarded the Plaintiff £1,750.