Why has this shop owner escaped a ban? It couldn't be because he is Asian could it?

Fish shop owner spared ban over dead mice

The owner of a fish and chip shop, where dead mice were found at the premises used to prepare food, has escaped a ban which would have seen him lose his livelihood.

Mohammed Shafiq, who runs Moor Fisheries in Amberley Street, Bradford Moor, had pleaded guilty to breaching food hygiene rules before Bradford magistrates.

The 37-year-old, of Upper Castle Street, West Bowling, faced nine charges relating to the fish and chip shop and a neighbouring shop which was used to prepare food to be sold in the main premises.

He was made the subject of a supervision order for 12 months and must complete 100 hours of unpaid work. In addition he must pay a contribution to the £1,000 costs Bradford Council incurred in bringing the case.

Magistrates turned down a call for him to be banned from working with food again.

Abigail Langford, prosecuting for the Council, told the court yesterday that environmental health officers had stumbled across the neighbouring shop in August 2007 when they made an unannounced visit to the takeaway.

They noticed an open door and someone carrying a bowl of potatoes between the two shops.

They found the kitchen in the preparation area in a “filthy” state, she said, with mouldy chopping boards, no temperature probes and two decomposing mice on a sticky board. Officers feared an “imminent risk of injury to health” and the secondary shop was closed down voluntarily for two weeks and cleaned thoroughly, she said.

Paul Milner, mitigating for Shafiq, said he ran the family business with his wife and they had expanded by cooking curries in their garage to be sold through the shop.

After complaints, he said, they had taken out the lease on the neighbouring shop and used it to prepare food for sale at the fish and chip shop. He described Shafiq as a hard-working father of five, whose takings had dropped since the “adverse publicity” surrounding the prosecution.

“The Council has continued to give advice and an imp-rovement noticed acted upon. When deficiencies have been drawn to his attention he has taken action,” said Mr Milner.

He said Shafiq had attempted to clear up the problem with mice by using sticky pads, but had since called in a pest control company. He also blamed an accumulation of rubbish in the street outside for the vermin problems.

After the case Angela Brindle, the Council’s environmental health manager, said: “We are pleased this case has come to an end but are disappointed with the outcome. Mohammed Shafiq showed a complete disregard for food safety and was content to prepare food in totally unsatisfactory premises. He did not even get the basics right.”

The fish shop has received one star out of a possible five on a website which rates hygiene levels at restaurants, takeaways and cafes. It relates to an inspection in January.

It's not just an isolated case...

80 food poisoning cases linked to former Saffron restaurant

Two owners of an Ilkley restaurant that was shut down after 80 cases of food poisoning were linked to it have pleaded guilty to 20 breaches of food hygiene laws and related offences at Bradford Magistrates Court.

Abdul Ghafoor, of Fagley Road, Fagley, and Mohammed Ayub, of Westlands Grove, Allerton, were charged with 13 counts of breaching food hygiene laws and an additional six counts of obstructing an official Health and Safety investigation at the now defunct Saffron restaurant in Ilkley.

The charges related to serious breaches of food hygiene rules which led to an outbreak of a rare parasitic infection which saw over 80 taken ill after eating at the restaurant in late 2007.

Traces of the giardia lamblia parasite, usually associated with the Middle East and which causes gastro-intestinal illness, nausea and stomach cramps, were found in 87 people who had eaten at the restaurant.

Addressing the defendants, magistrates panel chairman Mrs Bielby said: "We have decided the offences are so serious they deserve a greater punishment than we are able to hand down in this court."

She sent the case to Bradford Crown Court for sentencing on May 8.

Bradford Council's environmental health manager Angela Brindle said: "It has been a very difficult case to investigate as the giardia parasite is not normally associated with food-borne outbreaks of this nature and, in fact, we believe it is the first giardia outbreak associated with a food business in this country.

"Looking into this case was made even more difficult by one of the proprietors not disclosing themselves as a bona fide owner of the restaurant until nine months into the investigation. This is why we also brought a case of obstruction against Mr Ghafoor and Mr Ayub as they caused considerable delay to the investigation."

She continued: "The restaurant staff were totally ill-prepared for the job. They had no food hygiene training and no experience of running a food business safely. Staff did not know how to wash their hands properly and even carried on working when they had diarrhoea.

"The key message we want to send out to other food businesses following this case is that management must be present on site at all times and trained in food hygiene and they must have a clear understanding of the need for equipment maintenance.

"Staff must be trained and supervised to ensure they are carrying out hygiene practices correctly and food handlers must not work under any circumstances whilst suffering from sickness and diarrhoea."

Takeaway breached food hygiene laws

A takeaway has been ordered to pay £1,845 for breaching food hygiene laws.

Iftikhar Matloob, the manager of Sholay's Takeaway, in Alice Street, Keighley, pleaded guilty to three offences at Bingley Magistrate's Court last Thursday.

Bradford Council had prosecuted him for failure to protect food from contamination, failure to keep food premises clean and failure to keep cleaning equipment clean.

The offences dated back to October 2006, when environmental health officers from the council visited the take-away and found sewage leaking from a floor drain in the kitchen.

Nigel Coates, environmental health officer with Bradford Council, said in his 36 years experience he had rarely seen conditions as bad as those he had seen during his inspection of the premises. Matloob was fined £250 for each offence and ordered to pay £1,095 costs to the council.

Sholay's was boarded up and empty when the Keighley News visited it on Tuesday.

No one from the business was available for comment.

Mouse droppings found in takeaway

The former owner of a fish and chip shop which was infested with mice and in a “filthy condition” has been banned from ever working with food again.

Great Horton Fisheries was closed down for a week last November after environmental health officers conducted a routine check and found a “major mouse infestation”.

Mohammed Ajmal, 29, of Cumberland Road, Lidget Green, pleaded guilty at Bradford magistrates court yesterday over the lapses in hygiene at the fish and chip shop, which he has since sold.

He was convicted of six offences relating to the infestation and his lack of prompt action over ridding the shop of the vermin. The charges also referred to improper hygiene and bad practices such as not using an anti-bacterial spray.

Dennis Schulman, prosecuting for Bradford Council, told the court that mouse droppings were discovered in a container which stored a donner meat slicing machine, on flour bins, and work surfaces at the side of the deep fat fryer. Officers also found that some surfaces were filthy including a potato container and rumbler.

Mr Schulman said Ajmal had contacted a pest control company over the infestation of mice, and baits had been set, but the company had not returned to follow up on the work. After the Council visit the fish and chip shop closed for a week.

Ajmal had been warned two years ago after being overrun with mice at the same premises when it served pizza and fried chicken, resulting in the shop closing down for a week then, too.

Simon Hustler, for Ajmal, said he had owned the shop for five years and admitted that the “job was beyond him”.

“He didn’t have the best of luck. Staff were repeatedly sent on courses for food hygiene, but they didn’t seem to learn anything from what they were taught.”

Ajmal was fined a total of £1,740, ordered to pay costs of £1,412, and made the subject of a food prohibition order banning him from ever working with food or owning food premises again.

John Major, the Council’s assistant director of environmental health, said: “We are pleased with the level of this fine and the ban as it reflects the serious nature of the offence. We are here to protect the people of the district and this type of offence is unacceptable.”