 Smokies have been sold illegally for years |
A meat trader has been given a three month suspended
sentence and his company has been ordered to pay £9,597 after being found
guilty of selling ‘smokies’.
The prosecution follows an EHOs from the London Borough of
Hackney inspected Islam Halal Meat at 134-135 Ridley Road in August 2013.
The prosecution follows an inspection of Islam Halal Meat at
134-135 Ridley Road by EHOs from the London Borough of Hackney. They found 18
portioned bags of scorched sheep with the skin still on in a chiller.
Smokies are considered a delicacy amongst some African
communities and have been traded illegally for years. In London, gangs
typically buy sheep in rural communities, slaughter them illegally and then
blow torch the skin to get a distinctive smoked taste.
During the slaughter process sheep and goats are slaughtered
in unhygienic conditions intentionally bypassing official controls and with a
disregard of animal welfare rules.
Smokies are then sold illegally in London markets and some
ethnic minority shops. There has been a long history of smokies being sold in
Ridley Road market in Hackney through criminal gangs operating out of Wales.
Islam Halal Meat Ltd and its director Mohammed Sultan were
found guilty of two offences each under the food safety regulations. Sentencing
at Thames Magistrates’ Court on 5 June the magistrate chair said: ‘because of
possible consequences of eating unsafe meat the custodial threshold had been
crossed.’
Mr Sultan was given a three-month custodial sentence,
suspended for 12 months, to run concurrently for each offence. He was also
ordered to pay a £120 victim surcharge.
The company was fined £1,000 for two offences and ordered to
pay prosecution full costs of £9,357.
Hackney Council launched a Food Standards Agency funded
‘food fraud’ project to help combat the trade in illegal meat including bush
meat being sold in the borough.
The council has been working with the Association of London
Environmental Health Managers, which has set up a London Food Fraud Group to
share intelligence between councils on illegal meat activities across the
capital.