A 10-year-old boy suffered severe burns after being hit by a ball of flames while toasting marshmallows over a restaurant’s fire pit.
The child was cooking the sweet treat with his sister at Monterey Jack’s in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, when a 16-year-old waitress poured liquid fuel over the structure.
A doctor told the boy’s parents that had he not been wearing glasses he would likely have been blinded after the incident in November 2018.
The youngster received specialist treatment for the severe burns for the three years that followed the accident, Airdrie Sheriff Court was told.
Prosecutor Kristina Kelly also relayed to the court how the youngster had to stay out of direct sunlight whilst also being left with scarring on his cheek and eyebrow.
After, the 10-year-old developed anxiety with his parents told he had ‘borderline post-traumatic stress disorder,’ she added.
His 14-year-old sister as well as the waitress suffered minor burns, however only the waitress required further hospital treatment.
The court was told how the restaurant had only been open for two weeks when the waitress attempted to relight the firepit after it had gone out.
A metal fuel burner surrounded by stones had been installed ‘to give the effect of a campfire, in keeping with the Wild West theme of the restaurant’.
A boy, 10, suffered severe burns after being hit a by a fireball while toasting marshmallows at a Monterey Jack’s in Airdrie, Scotland
A 16-year-old waitress ha d poured liquid over the firepit (pictured) while the boy and his sister, 14, toasted marshmallows in a bid to relight it
Ms Kelly told the court: ‘She got a bottle of liquid fuel, told the children to stand back and poured this on the fire pit.
‘Residual flames caused the fuel to ignite and a burst of flames went across the restaurant.
‘The boy’s mother heard a loud bang and rushed to the area where she saw her son crouched in a ball.
‘She patted his clothing to put out the flames and saw he had burns to his face, ear, eyebrow and eyelashes.’
The company has since admitted two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act.
Ms Kelly said lighting the fire should have been a job for a manager and that under 18s should not have been tasked with it.
She added it was clear that ‘staff training was lacking’ and employees were ‘not made aware of the dangers’.
Monterey Jack’s has multiple restaurants in Scotland, but the Airdrie branch was shuttered in 022.
Gary Marshall, who described himself as a shareholder and investor, said the firm accepted responsibility and expressed ‘sincere regret’.
‘General risk assessments did exist but were clearly not sufficient in relation to the fuel burner. Training and supervision for under-18s was inadequate,’ he said.
‘Immediately after this incident all fire pits in our premises were removed to ensure there would be no recurrence of this.’
Sheriff Joseph Hughes said it appeared such a fuel burner was ‘inherently dangerous in a public setting’.
Sentencing is scheduled to take place in December of this year.
