A man has been sentenced by Bristol Crown Court for running a £4 m chicken supply business in Fishponds. He was found guilty in 2011 of thirty six charges concerning the multi million pound illegal poultry supply business, which he ran from a warehouse on Fishponds Trading Estate.
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After a close investigation into the financial details the Judge has now sentenced the accused to one year’s imprisonment suspended to two years, 200 hours community service and seizure of assets worth £51,000, which includes equity on his house.
Cllr Gus Hoyt, Assistant Mayor responsible for the Environment said, “This was a very serious case which endangered the health of many “This was a very serious case which endangered the health of many. It is good to see that the court took it equally seriously by awarding a custody sentence.”
“This only highlights how important it is for food vendors to know and understand the food chain. Buying local from people you know is the best way to avoid such risks.”
The prosecution brought by Bristol City Council Environmental Health Officers followed a massive joint exercise, led by Bristol City Council, working with the Food Standards Agency, police and other Councils in Wales, the West and the Republic of Ireland.
The thirty six offences under food hygiene legislation included failure to register a business, operating a meat cutting plant without approval, serious hygiene failures in the equipping and running of the business, and fraudulent use of health marks.
John Barrow Principal Environmental Officer for Bristol City Council said, “This was an extraordinary case: the company was selling sub-standard food over a huge area to restaurants, takeaways and supermarkets that were unknowingly serving it to the public. They were running a multi-million pound illegal operation that put the public and local businesses at risk. Conditions of the premises were frankly unbelievable.”
A complaint from a local resident after finding a piece of wire in a chicken portion from a takeaway sparked the investigation. Environmental Health Officers tracked the meat supplier but they quickly discovered the company, which was not registered with Bristol City Council, was advertising openly on specialist catering supplier pages on the web, with a 1,000 kgs minimum order.
Officers then realised that they had uncovered a major illegal meat scheme and, after consultations with the FSA Food Fraud Team, two warrants were sworn out under the Food Hygiene (England) Regs 2006. Environmental Health Officers assisted by the police, on the 17 May 2011 raided the office and the factory in an operation in May 2011.
“We found four tonnes of chicken and beef in an industrial unit, which though in an unfinished state was in daily use as a poultry cutting plant. The premises were in a very poor state and with serious hygiene defects, which would have precluded the company from being approved as a cold store or cutting plant, had they applied.” said John Barrow Principal Environmental Officer for Bristol City Council.All the meat found in the cold store was seized as “having been produced in premises which did not satisfy the hygiene condition”, and taken before magistrates, who issued a condemnation order.
Analysis by the officers showed that at least twenty tonnes of chicken and beef was processed every week and sold across a wide area along the M4 and M5 corridors, from Swindon to Caerphilly and along the M5 from Bristol to the Forest of Dean and North to Gloucester. Local Council staff worked under the guidance of Bristol officers to gather the evidence of sales across these areas.
“Our Food Team will always support legitimate food traders in any way we can. This major, multi-faceted operation has demonstrated Bristol City’s willingness and ability to work with a number of agencies and other authorities in investigating serious offences and bringing rogue traders to justice. Businesses should always beware of dodgy traders cashing in on the recession by offering ‘cheap’ meats, and to only buy from recognised reputable sources”, said John Barrow.
