York bar firm collapses after £100k fine for serving lethal drink that burned away girl's stomach

Oscars Wine Bar Ltd has filed for bankruptcy after racking up debts of nearly £700,000, which included a £100,000 fine and £40,000 court costs incurred after the company admitted breaching health and safety regulations.

The firm, which owned bars in York and Lancaster, admitted last year being responsible for selling the liquid nitrogen cocktails at one of its bars in Lancaster, to Gaby Scanlon, 21, in 2012.

Miss Scanlon, from Heyhsm, drank a shot of Jagermeister laced with liquid nitrogen at her 18th birthday celebrations, and began vomiting immediately.

Prosecutor Barry Berlin, told Preston Crown Court last September: “They knew it was dangerous and didn’t properly police it.”

The nitrogen attacked Miss Scanlon’s body tissue and perforated her stomach lining.

Miss Scanlon needed to have her stomach removed as a result of drinking the cocktail. The surgeon who performed the operation said she would have died otherwise.

In a victim impact statement, Miss Scanlon said: “It immediately felt like I was expanding. I burped and then clear vomit started to come out.

“I tried to undo my skirt as my stomach had expanded because of the gas.”

Documents submitted to Companies House showed Oscars Wine Bar Ltd also owed £20,000 in VAT to the tax office, plus an addition £12,000 to HMRC in employee tax and National Insurance contributions.

The firm also owed NatWest bank £35,000 as well as still holding £123,000 in fines and costs as part of its debt.

Oscar’s Wine Bar director Andrew Dunn, of Old Earswick, York, has been contacted for comment through Oscar’s Wine Bar.