Two jailed over meat meant for pets sold to public in Walworth

Two men have been jailed for their roles in a conspiracy to sell meat intended for pet food to unsuspecting shoppers.

Anthony Fear, 63, was found to have supplied meat unfit for human consumption to Azar Irshad, 40, who ran a cutting room in south London after nearby residents complained of the smell of rotting meat.

The court heard the meat – including whole chickens and lambs’ testicles – should either have been destroyed or used in pet food, but was instead prepared to be sold for people to eat.

Following a 12-week trial, Fear was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison and banned from being a company director for six years while Irshad was jailed for 35 months on Tuesday at Inner London Crown Court.

Trading Standards officers launched an investigation in 2020 after residents near a business on Walworth Road in south-east London, complained of the stench of rotting meat coming from what was described in court as a “disgustingly filthy” shop.

Residents had taken photographs of large containers of meat left outside in the heat.

At a linked premises in East Street, officers found a hidden illegal cutting shop where workers were skinning, washing and portioning tainted raw poultry for distribution.

The court was told the premises were run by Irshad, Ali Afzal and Arshad Akhtar, who has since died.

Once meat is classified as an animal by-product, it cannot be sold for human consumption, according to the Food Standards Agency.

But the court heard Irshad, a halal butcher, made 16 trips to Fear’s business in Bridgwater, Somerset, to bring back meat to the south London cutting room.

Trading Standards found 1.9 tonnes of animal by-product at an unregistered premises in Walworth. The haul included whole and cut chickens, lambs’ testicles and beef burgers, all of which had been improperly stored.

The meat was traced back to Fear’s business, which had been contracted to collect animal by-products and deliver them to a pet food producer.

Fear and his company, Fears Animal Products Limited, were convicted of conspiring to divert meat unfit for human consumption into the food chain.

Judge Noel Lucas KC described Fear as “a greedy man” and “a risk taker, anxious to make a quick profit wherever he can and irrespective of any potential consequences to others”.

He added Fear’s offending was motivated by “sheer greed” and was “a gross dereliction of the trust placed in him”.

Sentencing him at Inner London Crown Court, Judge Lucas said: “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 three-and-a-half years in prison and banned from being a company director for six years.

Irshad, who had admitted his role in the conspiracy and other regulatory offences, was jailed for 35 months, with concurrent six-month terms for the regulatory breaches. He was also banned from selling food or being involved in a food business until further notice.

Mark Hooper, 64, a manager at Fear’s company, previously admitted his role in the conspiracy. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid work.

Afzal also pleaded guilty to regulatory offences. He received a suspended six-month sentence, 150 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £5,000 in costs.

The judge postponed decisions on costs orders for Fear, Irshad and Hooper.

Andrew Quinn, head of the National Food Crime Unit, said: “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.”