I see the problem now - I had "dessert" rather than "deserts". Funny the way you pronounce "deserts" as in "just deserts" like the pudding which is a "dessert" rather than like a place with lots of sand as in "desert". I assumed that as the question asked for "a consequence" (sing.) that this was the singular form of "just des(s)erts" and hence a "dessert" !