Chef sues off-licence over bottle injury

A chef is suing an off-licence and wine producer after cutting her thumb while opening a “corked” bottle of wine.

Jean Jones, a pastry chef from County Cork, suffered a laceration to her thumb while trying to open a bottle of JP Chenet rosé, according reports by the Irish Independent. 

The incident happened at a hotel on September 30 when the bottle shattered as Jones and a friend tried to dislodge its crumbled cork.

Jones had to undergo surgery to repair nerve damage in her thumb, which she claims is likely to reduce her mobility and impact on her work as a pastry chef.

She is now now suing Les Grand Chais de France who produce the wine, and off-licence Donagh Gleeson and Sons, trading as Gleeson’s Spar, claiming they were negligent in supplying a defective product.

She claims the defendants failed to assess the risk posed by the wine bottle and provide a bottle with thick enough glass to resist shattering, and should have known the bottle’s cork was defective.

A date for hearing has not been set with a High Court judge ruling that further information on how the incident occurred was necessary.