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'Maggot Pete' is jailed for six years
THE runaway ringleader of a gang which supplied rancid chicken to schools, hospitals and supermarkets was yesterday jailed for six years.
Peter Roberts – known in the meat trade as “Maggot Pete” – went on the run after police uncovered his role in the poultry fraud, which involved 450 tonnes of chicken and turkey.
A firm in Northamptonshire was one of those responsible for dealing in the trade of the poultry, which was unfit for human consumption.
When MK Poultry on the Moulton Park Industrial Estate was raided as part of an investigation into the racket in 2001, officers found open drainage sewers and meat in ripped packaging stored at room temperature.
The plant also lacked hygiene facilities and had no sink or hot and cold water.
Contaminated chicken carcasses were sold to wholesalers, including MK Poultry, from a business in Derbyshire.
Four men were jailed for their part in the fraud in 2003, which saw the supply of unfit meat stretch from Derbyshire to Northampton, Milton Keynes and Bury. Ringleader Roberts fled the country before his trial began.
He was convicted of conspiracy to defraud and a bail act offence by Nottingham Crown Court in his absence in 2003. He was ordered to serve six years in custody.
Roberts, 72, was arrested on Tuesday night on his return to the UK, after he was deported from Northern Cyprus.
At a hearing at Derby Crown Court yesterday, Roberts was told he would now start the jail term.
He was at the head of a supply chain which doctored meat – in many cases unfit even for animals – to make it appear fit for consumption.
Meat was butchered in Derbyshire, where the rat-infested premises were ridden with sewage, and was then driven to customers in vans crawling with insects.
An investigation into Derbyshire-based Denby Poultry Products began in 2000, and became public after warrants – including the one at MK Poultry – were executed in 2001.
When MK Poultry was raided chicken infected with bacterial hepatitis, E-coli and staphylococcus was found. The owner of the Northampton business was jailed for two-and-a-half years for his part in the conspiracy.
More than 100 police officers, 50 local authority environmental health officers and Meat Hygiene Service staff around the country were involved in the investigation.
The probe began in December 2000 after an anonymous tip-off and premises in Northampton were raided in March 2001.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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