These are the “truly horrendous” conditions found by an environmental health officer when they made an unannounced visit to a Newcastle butcher’s shop.
A total of 20 black bags of meat carcases which had ‘turned to mulch’ were found in the backyard of Fresh Meat Newcastle Ltd on Westgate Road, Newcastle. A number of rats were also spotted in the yard, some which were lying dead while others were running around.
Inside the premises where meat was butchered, meat debris was sticking to kitchen knives, walls were splattered with blood leading down to a basement, a wash basin was hanging off a wall, there was no hand washing facilities in an outside toilet, cigarette butts littered the floor and there was a foul smell coming from a freezer packed with chicken carcasses.
Now the director Freej Korkamas has been fined thousands of pounds for serious food hygiene breaches. The director of the business which previously occupied 395a Westgate Road, Newcastle, failed to turn up at court on two occasions to hear the charges the company faced.
The magistrate decided to hear the case in his absence and found the business guilty of four food hygiene offences. ChronicleLive understands that a different business selling fresh meat, fruit and vegetables is now trading from the address.
The court heard that the environmental health officer called at the premises, which sold raw halal beef, chicken and lamb to businesses and walk in customers, on November 30, 2023, after receiving a complaint about waste accumulating in the rear of the premises.
The company was fined £10,000, ordered to pay a £2,000 surcharge and £939 in legal costs. The court heard an application to strike off the company had been suspended pending the outcome of the court case.
Deputy leader of Newcastle City Council, Cllr Alex Hay, who has responsibility for regulatory services, said he was horrified by the case.
Cllr Hay said: “Quite rightly people will be appalled. The conditions in this shop were truly horrendous and I congratulate our officers for bringing this prosecution. The business posed a serious risk to public health due to its high quantities of raw meat processed here under unsatisfactory conditions, and it is fortunate – as far as we are aware – that no one was made ill with meat bought from there.
“There is no place for shops like Fresh Meat Newcastle in our city. I hope the substantial fine sends a strong message to any company flouting food hygiene regulations that the council will use the full force of the law to punish them. The public quite rightly expect and deserve far better than this.”
These are the conditions found at Fresh Meat Newcastle Ltd on Westgate Road.
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/gallery/horrendous-condition-rat-infested-newcastle-31144265
