Doctor, cook, supervisor get suspended terms in D'Souza children deaths case

The Dubai Appeals Court Tuesday fined a doctor, a cook and a supervisor Dh20,000 each and handed them a six-month suspended jail term for causing the deaths of two children, who died of food poisoning. Presiding Judge Mahmoud Fahmi Sultan stiffened the punishment against the 46-year-old Iraqi doctor, a 25-year-old Nepalese cook and a 33-year-old Filipino supervisor and ordered them to jointly pay Dh400,000 in blood money to the children's parents. The three defendants had pleaded not guilty and denied the charge of being responsible for the deaths of five-year-old Nathan D'Souza and his seven-year-old sister, Chelsea, who died of food poisoning in 2009. "The six-month jail term will be suspended for a period of three years. The jury has also acquitted the restaurant [where the victims ate] of being involved in the case," Presiding Judge Sultan said upon pronouncing yesterday's judgment in Courtroom 17. The doctor's advocate, Mohammad Rashid Al Suwaidi, and advocate Hussain Al Bannai, who defended the cook and the supervisor, are expected to appeal yesterday's judgment before the Cassation Court soon. "We are planning to see the verdict sheet's reasoning and decide on what grounds to base our appeal before the Cassation Court," Al Suwaidi told Gulf News. Prosecutors said the cook and the supervisor were charged with violating Dubai Municipality's public health requirements on hygienic practices to preserve food. This led to bacterial contamination. The doctor was charged with negligence in his provision of medical care to the two children when they were admitted to hospital. Yesterday's verdict remains subject to appeal within 30 days. from / Gulf News