Potato fight turns ugly: Violence erupts between chefs at posh hotel with one trying to strangle a colleague after pair started lobbing vegetables at each other

A potato throwing fight between chefs at a posh hotel turned ugly with one trying to strangle a colleague after the pair started lobbing vegetables at each other, a judge heard today.   

Violence erupted between the two cooks following a confrontation over potato croquettes at the 38-bedroom Cantley House Hotel in upmarket Wokingham, Berkshire, the court was told.

It ended with chef Rashim Salim, 35, strangling and punching his kitchen colleague, Mr Barbu, after the pair threw potatoes at each other.

Salim was handed an 18-month community sentence for the assault causing actual bodily harm, which he admitted. 

The judge heard he had grabbed his colleague by the throat and punched him three times during the incident on January 27. 

Judge Joanna Matson heard how Salim, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, was involved in a heated argument with his colleague Mr Barbu. The confrontation spiralled with a supposed row over potatoes and croquettes taking place.

Prosecutor Shaan Sethi described the incident to the court, saying Salim 'grabbed the complainant by the neck and squeezed' before punching Mr Barbu in the torso. 

However, Judge Matson stated that after checking the CCTV footage from the incident, there was strangulation involved but no continuation of the strangling.

'There was strangulation involved but it wasn't persistent,' she said.

Defence counsel for Salim, Adele Pullarp, told Reading Crown Court that Salim was holding down two jobs that helped to pay child maintenance costs for his older children. The judge heard he had been diagnosed with stage five kidney failure in 2020 and had to undergo dialysis.

She added he was a successful chef who had maintained a romantic relationship over the past five years.

The judge heard that Salim had previous convictions for violence from 2015 but these were not taken as an aggravating factor by the court.

Salim was ordered to complete 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 140 hours of unpaid work and to pay £120 in compensation to Mr Barbu.

A spokesperson for Cantley House Hotel told MailOnline: 'The incident that happened was dealt with by our HR and the a member of staff who worked for a very short period of time at the hotel was dismissed on the spot for gross misconduct .

'We pride ourselves on providing a safe and friendly environment for all our teams and have zero tolerance to violence and inappropriate conduct.

'All our chefs work a 4-day week to ease the workload challenges on their mental health.

'We helped the police with this matter by providing CCTV of the incident. The victim was offered support, including private medical check and.

'We were shocked by the conduct of this ex-employee and this was promptly dealt with.'