Former salon owner jailed as teen girl suffers horrific burns

A FORMER tanning salon owner has been jailed after a 15-year-old girl suffered horrific burns and scars from one of his dangerous sunbeds.

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

The teenager collapsed after using a “very unsafe” sunbed, which had bare unprotected tubes, no emergency cord and was meant to be out of use, at the Abyss Tanning Studio on Linthorpe Road.

She later described it as “14 minutes that changed my life” at the Middlesbrough shop which did not carry out age and safety checks for the underage customer.

She suffered severe burns to her face, arms, legs and right shoulder, needed plastic surgery and was left with permanent scarring.

She had been allowed to use the sunbed twice in two days without the business checking her age or skin type, and fainted in the second session after eight minutes, says Middlesbrough Council.

Almost three years later, she is still undergoing treatment as she saw 26-year-old Ryan Sihra, who ran the studio, receive his sentence at Teesside Magistrates’ Court.

The sunbed was not meant to be used until tubes were replaced as they were “way out of tolerance”, said Thomas Durance, prosecuting for Middlesbrough Council.

He said: “The bed in question had insufficient guards. That's why injuries have been sustained. She had skin grafts. It’s been a horrific time for this young individual. The injuries are just horrific. Luckily the healing process is better, there’s obviously a lot of scarring still there.”