Woman
celebrating her 50th dies after eating oysters for birthday meal at
Quaglino's
Source of
Article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1186319/Woman-celebrating-50th-dies-eating-oysters-birthday-meal-Quaglinos.html By Christian
Gysin and Claire
Ellicott A leading London restaurant has been closed after a 50-year-old woman
diner died of suspected food poisoning days after eating there. Denise Martin was having a meal with five friends last Saturday night at
Sir Terence Conran's flagship restaurant Quaglino and was taken ill 48 hours
later. It is understood she complained of stomach pains and then suffered severe
vomiting and died at her home just three days after the 50th birthday
celebration at the celebrity haunt. Managers at Quaglino's in London decided to shut for
two days this week after diner Denise Martin, 50, died three days after
celebrating her 50th birthday there The restaurant voluntarily closed for two days following Ms Martin's
death. Environmental health officers have also launched an investigation. Today her devastated partner - 52-year-old taxi driver Roy Johal - was
comforting her two sons Harry, aged 18, and ten-year-old Alfie at the home
the couple shared in Sidcup, Kent. The pair lived together for more than 20 years and today Mr Johal refused
to blame the restaurant for her death. He explained: 'Denise went to the restaurant on Saturday night with five
girlfriends to celebrate her 50th birthday. 'They all ate oysters which Denise had never eaten before. 'She was fine all day Sunday but on Monday she was violently sick. 'She went to bed and told the family she had a stomach bug and to keep
away from her. 'She asked for some water and told me to sleep on the settee which I did.
She told our sons to stay out of the bedroom so they didn't catch anything. 'Then on Tuesday morning I went in to see her and she had passed away. 'I don't know, the kids don't know, the poor coroner doesn't know just
how Denise died. 'They have released her body so we can cremate her but they will do
further tests to find out what happened. 'I want to stress is that we have never muttered a word of blame at this
restaurant. 'My brother owns restaurants and he told me there is no way of knowing if
you are eating bad oysters. It doesn't even touch the sides of your throat so
it's not like you can taste it - it goes straight down. 'I'm just trying to come to terms with losing her at the moment, we're
all devastated. 'She wasn’t a conventional heroine - she didn’t climb Everest or
anything like that - but she was so special to us. 'At a time when most mums leave their kids and go to work, she gave up
work to look after them and spent all her time with them. 'We don’t know whether she had food poisoning or was just suddenly ill. Four of Ms Martin's friends who also ate oysters have not been taken ill
after dining at the famous eaterie which is in Mayfair, Central London, and
is a favourite with stars such as Sir Elton John and Mick Jagger. Today it emerged that an inquest was opened and adjourned into her death
on Thursday and no cause of death was established during a post mortem carried
out on Wednesday. Quaglino's refused to comment on the death but a member of staff
confirmed that the restaurant had closed for two days and had since reopened
. The decision to close had been made voluntarily by the management. Environmental health officers from Westminster City Council and the
Health Protection Agency (HPA) have launched their own investigation and will
decide whether the Food Standards Agency needs to launch an enquiry. The restaurant last had a routine food hygiene inspection in October 2008
and it received three out of a possible four stars. At the time inspectors noted that while there was a 'good level of legal
compliance' one also noted that ' some more effort might be required.' One health source explained today: 'Initially it looked as if the woman
may have become ill after eating oysters at the restaurant but another woman
in her party who ate them was absolutely fine and did not suffer any ill
effects. 'At this stage we can't take the investigation any further until we have
the results of some more tests. There is no evidence to say she died as a
result of something she ate at the restaurant.' Richard Block, food safety manager at Westminster City Council, said: '
There is nothing currently to link this death directly to the restaurant
which is cooperating fully with our investigation.' A Health Protection Agency spokeswoman said: 'We can confirm that a
person has sadly died and food poisoning is being investigated as a possible
cause of death. 'Currently there is no evidence to link the death to any particular
establishment.' The restaurant was originally founded by Giovanni Quaglino in 1929 before
undergoing a £2.5 million refurbishment and relaunch by Sir Terence Conran in
1993. Sir Terence, who has been behind other successful restaurant ventures
such as Bibendum and Kensington Place, sold his 51 per cent majority stake in
the D&D parent company last May for an estimated £100 million. |
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