The founder of the Pierre Victoire restaurant chain has been cleared of causing food poisoning at his Edinburgh restaurant after a sheriff ruled that environmental health officials had breached his human rights.

Pierre Levicky, 51, was accused of giving two diners campylobacter and three others symptoms of food poisoning after serving chicken livers at Chez Pierre, in Eyre Place, New Town, in November 2009.

But his lawyer argued that Levicky’s interview with an environmental health officer, which took place without a lawyer being present, could not be admitted as evidence
Sheriff James Scott ruled that Levicky’s right to legal representation had been breached, sustained the objection and found Levicky, of Eyre Place, Edinburgh, not guilty of the charges.