A shepherd’s pie has left a 92-year-old dead and 31 others injured after they were left with food poisoning at a British pub. Out of the group of diners, those who dodged becoming “unpleasantly ill” were vegetarians.

The chef who served up the deadly dish at the Crewe Arms in Northamptonshire, John Croucher, has been sentenced to four months in jail. 

Deadly shepherd’s pie

Moreover, pub landlord Neil Billingham has been fined £9,000 for contravening food regulations, The Independent reports. He is also ordered to pay an additional £1,000 in costs.

The tragic incident occurred at a harvest supper party for a group of church-goers at the village establishment in Hinton-in-the-Hedges.

It left Elizebeth Neuman vomiting before she was rushed to hospital. Doctors were unable to treat her as she had already died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage.

Mince food poisoning

Forty-year-old Croucher had not cooked the beef mince properly and left it in the fridge overnight because he needed to leave, Reading Crown Court heard.

“He cooked it again and added warm mashed potato. He did not take the temperature when it was served,” Judge Sarah Campbell revealed.

A chef for more than 20 years, Croucher said the disaster had made him a “better chef.”

“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,” he said in court.

Hygiene inspectors had already ordered the site to make improvements after it ascertained that no food safety management systems were in place, The Independent adds.