Tanning studio owner is JAILED after teenage girl fainted in sunbed and was left with horror burns on her face and body
Gruesome images released by a council show the 15-year-old's severely blistered skin with the injuries leaving her scarred for life.
The schoolgirl had in June 2022 fainted eight minutes into a 14 minute session at Abyss Tanning Studio, in Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, and lay against tanning tubes which were insufficiently protected.
It was the teen's second visit in two days without any checks on her age or skin type having been carried out.
Owner Ryan Sihra, 26, was jailed for 20 weeks at a hearing at Teesside Magistrates' Court, Middlesbrough Council said.
He admitted failing to carry out statutory age and safety checks.
The tanning bed did not have an emergency cord for customers to pull.
The girl suffered severe burns which required plastic surgery. She is still receiving treatment three years later.
In a victim impact statement, the teenager described feeling suicidal.
She said: 'When I came out of the sunbed, I knew by my younger sister's face that I was going to need to go to hospital for treatment, but I could not know that the treatment would last three years and it is still not complete.
'I must live with this scar for the rest of my life and the toll it has taken on me can't even be articulated.'
Outside court, her mother added: 'We are grateful for the hard work that has been done by the Environmental Health and Trading Standards teams and that the trader has finally accepted responsibility.
'It goes some way towards her recovery.'
Councillor Janet Thompson, Middlesbrough Council's Executive member for Neighbourhoods, said: 'It's all too easy to take tanning salons for granted, and to assume they're safe because those running them know what they're doing.
'This dreadful case is a timely reminder of how badly wrong things can go when the owners of such establishments show a cavalier and reckless disregard for the law and for people's safety.'
Shira, of Harrogate Crescent, Middlesbrough, admitted two charges under Health and Safety at Work legislation.
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