JUST minutes before he died, Paul Wilson, was chatting on the phone to his mother, Margaret, looking forward to eating a meal he loved.

"I've got a chicken tikka masala and onion bhaji takeaway", he told her, "I've got my clothes ready for work tomorrow, so after I've eaten that I'm going to get an early night."

A few hours later the 38-year-old father, a tall, slim man with a healthy complexion and jovial nature, was found dead, slumped over the toilet in his home in Helperby, near Thirsk.

News of his death devastated his family and rocked the close-knit community he had settled in.

Those who knew him were all the more shocked to learn he had fallen victim to his peanut allergy, after eating a chicken tikka masala - long cited as one of the country's most popular dishes - as he scrupulously avoided even the briefest encounter with nuts, wearing gloves to offer customers packets of peanuts from a box.

Mr Wilson, a talented amateur golfer with a two handicap who once beat this year's US Masters champion Danny Willett, was diagnosed aged seven with a severe nut allergy, after biting into a Marathon bar.

"Paul's nut allergy had always played a very important role in his life and he carried his epi-pen", Mrs Wilson said.

"From then on we never had any nuts, Christmas time or anything. Fortunately, he loved apple pies, so I would bake them for him. It only became an issue if we were out and he decided upon a change and they couldn't be clear whether something contained nuts.

"He only had a couple of incidents. I remember being at a cousin's wedding and Paul was given a pencil-thin piece of cake with no marzipan, no nuts. But there was obviously something, and he was violently sick and we went home."

His father, Keith, described his son's approach to his allergy as "meticulous", particularly after he started working as a chef.

"Paul cooked for John Major once" Mr Wilson proudly recalls. "He was very careful with food, so it must have been very severe the night he died. It would only have taken a mouthful of that curry for Paul to know that there was something wrong.

"When he had his own business he never had anything on the bar. Even if he could smell nuts an allergic reaction could be triggered."

The pub manager was one of an estimated 250,000 people in Britain with a severe nut allergy.

His parents, who have created a garden featuring pink flowers in honour of their son, are optimistic the conviction of Mohammed Zaman over their son's death will serve as a sharp warning to food suppliers.

"Nothing can bring Paul back", Mrs Wilson said, "but it is our sincere hope that his death will raise awareness in the food industry, so that this never happens again. We also ask anyone with a food allergy to always be aware.

"Paul was very caring. We were a loving family and it's hard."