Trading Standards uncover 1.9 tonnes of unsafe meat in shocking pet food scam
Two men who conspired to sell tainted meat intended for pet food to unsuspecting shoppers have been jailed.
Nearly two tonnes of animal by-products not suitable for human consumption – including whole chickens, lambs’ testicles, and sheep’s heads – were discovered piled up inside a cutting room in south London.
Trading Standards were alerted by neighbors who complained about the smell of rotting meat coming from a ’disgustingly filthy’ shop in Walworth in 2020.
Some took photos of large containers of meat left to spoil in the baking sun, Inner London Crown Court heard.
Officers also investigated a related premises in nearby East Street where, behind stacked boxes, they found a door to an illegal cutting shop, where workers were cutting, skinning, washing, and portioning tainted raw poultry to be distributed and sold.
The premises were managed by Azar Irshad, 40, Ali Afzal, and a third person named Arshad Akhtar, who has since passed away.
Once meat is classified as an animal by-product, it can never be sold for human consumption for food safety reasons.
But the court heard Irshad, a halal butcher, made 16 trips to a business in Bridgwater, Somerset, run by Anthony Fear, 60, to bring the meat to what the judge described as ’a disgustingly filthy’ cutting room in south London.
In the investigation, Trading Standards found 1.9 tonnes of animal by-product, which included whole and cut chickens, lambs’ testicles, and beef burgers, all improperly handled and stored at an unregistered premises in Walworth.
The meat was traced back to Fear’s business, and evidence showed he had been contracted by meat companies to collect animal by-products and transport them to pet food producer Saria.
Fear and his business Fears Animal Products Limited were convicted of conspiring to divert meat not fit for human consumption into the human food chain after a 12-week trial.
Judge Noel Lucas KC said Fear’s offending was driven by ’sheer greed’ and was ’a gross dereliction of the trust placed in him’.
Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court on Tuesday, Judge Lucas told him: ’You are a wealthy man with a successful business.
’Save pure greed and arrogance to think you could get away with it, you had no motivation.’
Fear was sentenced to 42 months in prison and was also disqualified from being a director of a business for six years.
The judge noted Irshad was trusted to provide halal meat to his customers and ’abused this trust’.
Irshad previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy and other regulatory offenses.
He was sentenced to 35 months in prison for his role in the conspiracy, and six months in prison for each of the regulatory offenses, to run concurrently.
Irshad was also ordered not to sell any food products and not to be involved in any way with any food business until further order.
Mark Hooper, a manager for Fear’s business, previously pleaded guilty to his role in the conspiracy.
The 64-year-old was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, suspended for two years.
He was ordered to complete 200 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.
Afzal previously pleaded guilty to regulatory offenses and was sentenced on Thursday to six months in prison suspended for 21 months, 150 hours of unpaid work to be completed over 12 months, and £5,000 in costs to be paid over the next six months.
The judge adjourned the victims’ costs orders for Fear, Irshad, and Hooper to a later date.
Andrew Quinn, head of the National Food Crime Unit (NFCU), said: ’The sentences handed down today show that there is no place for such criminal activity in our food system.
’The case demonstrates the serious risk posed to consumer safety when individuals deliberately disregard food safety regulations by putting meat unfit for human consumption back into the food chain.
’We remain committed to our work identifying, investigating, and prosecuting those who seek to exploit our food system for financial gain at the expense of public safety.’
Southwark borough councilor Natasha Ennin said: ’This sentencing marks the end of a long and determined investigation to hold food criminals to account.
’These individuals operated with complete disregard for public health, motivated solely by greed.
’Consumers have a right to trust the safety of their food.
’We are grateful to our officers and to the NFCU for their tireless efforts in exposing this criminal enterprise.’
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