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A 10-year-old Lanarkshire boy was engulfed in flames in a horrifying accident at an Airdrie restaurant. The schoolboy and his sister were using the campfire-style structure to toast marshmallows when a teenage waitress, 16, poured liquid fuel onto the fire to relight it. The boy's horrified mum rushed to smother the flames before another customer gave first aid. A doctor told the boy's parents that, had he not been wearing glasses, he likely would have been blinded. The shocking incident occurred at Monterey Jack's in Airdrie. The company has now admitted two charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Airdrie Sheriff Court heard the restaurant had been open for only two weeks when the accident happened in November 2018. 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". The boy, his 14-year-old sister and their parents had been enjoying a meal there. Kristina Kelly, prosecuting, told the court: "The boy and his sister were toasting marshmallows at the fire pit, but the burner's flame went out. "A 16-year-old waitress tried unsuccessfully to relight it with a stem lighter. "Then 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. He was taken to hospital and a consultant told his parents that wearing glasses had likely saved his vision. "The burns were treated and the boy had acute difficulty eating and sleeping. He required specialist treatment from the burns unit for three years. He was required to stay out of direct sunlight and had scars on his cheek and eyebrow. He became very anxious following the accident and his parents were told he had borderline post-traumatic stress disorder." The court heard the young waitress suffered a burn to her hand and also needed hospital treatment. The boy's sister had a slight burn to her hand but didn't need treatment. Bunting above the burner was damaged by the flames. Ms Kelly said employees aged under 18 shouldn't have been lighting the fire pit which was a job for a manager. It was clear that "staff training was lacking" and employees were "not made aware of the dangers". The court was told that Monterey Jack's had around a dozen Scottish restaurants. The company ceased trading in 2022, but because of the pending prosecution the company is still "in existence". Gary Marshall, who described himself as a shareholder and investor, represented the company in court. He said: "Monterey Jack's accepts responsibility and expresses 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. "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". The firm will be sentenced in December. Sign up to our daily Glasgow Live newsletter here to receive news and features direct to your inbox Join Glasgow Live's WhatsApp community here and get the latest news sent straight to your messages.
