Tanning shop owner jailed after girl, 15, fainted on sunbed and was badly burned

Owner Ryan Sihra was jailed for 20 weeks at a hearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court (Picture: PA)

A tanning salon owner has been jailed after a teenage girl fainted on a sunbed and suffered horrific burns which left her feeling suicidal.

The 15-year-old visited Abyss Tanning Studio in Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, in June 2022 and was allowed to use a sun bed for the second time in two days without checks on her age or skin type.

But she fainted eight minutes into a 14-minute session and lay against tanning tubes which were insufficiently protected.

She suffered severe burns to her face, shoulder and legs that needed plastic surgery and have left her with permanent scarring.

Owner Ryan Sihra was jailed for 20 weeks at a hearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court where he admitted two charges under Health and Safety at Work legislation.

He admitted failing to carry out statutory age and safety checks.

The 15-year-old visited Abyss Tanning Studio in Linthorpe Road, Middlesbrough, in June 2022 (Picture: Middlesbrough Council/PA)

The tanning bed did not have an emergency cord for customers to pull.

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.’

In a victim impact statement, the teenager described feeling suicidal (Picture: Middlesbrough Council/PA)

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.’

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