£25,000 court row over an avocado

A chef who cut his finger while slicing an avocado is suing his bosses for £25,000.

Michael McCarthy, 21, claims that nobody taught him the dangers of cutting the pears while he was working as a commis chef in the Dalmunzie Hotel in Perthshire.

Mr McCarthy says the hotel's head chef told him to hold the food in his left hand and cut it with his right. He admits that he managed to deal with a dozen avocados successfully before having difficulty with an unripe, 13th one.

The stone at its centre was soft, and his 10-inch kitchen knife pierced the avocado a lot more quickly than he expected and went straight into his hand.

Mr McCarthy initially fainted but bandaged up the wound and was required to carry on with his shift by the head chef.

Later he went to hospital where he required surgery. He now says he was not properly trained to cut avocados and that the knife he was given to carry out the task was not suitable. The hotel is defending the action.

Mr McCarthy claims he lost £1,000 in wages during two months' sick leave and that his dreams of working as an RAF chef were ruined.

He also claims he has difficulty putting his hand in his pocket.