Peter Boddy and David Moss have today been sentenced at Southwark Crown Court, they were each asked to pay costs of over £10,000, Moss received a four month prison sentence suspended for two years and Boddy was fined £4,000 for each count.
Peter Boddy, the owner of a slaughterhouse which sold horsemeat to customers, admitted to failing to keep adequate records which could trace the provenance of the meat. The slaughterhouse manager, David Moss, has been sentenced for falsifying an invoice.
Kevin Hansford, specialist prosecutor at the Crown Prosecution Service said:
“FSA inspectors visited the slaughterhouse owned by Peter Boddy and managed by David Moss after widespread publicity over alleged miss-selling of meat. Documents produced for this inspection were intended to deceive the inspector and the lack of proper records meant that the source and destination of the horsemeat was untraceable. This deception is serious - the absence of proper records means that it is not possible to identify whether the horsemeat may have entered the human food chain. It also means that if there was a problem with the horsemeat it would not be possible to recall it. Both Boddy and Moss had little regard for the consequences of their actions and have now been held to account for them.”
Details of sentences:
David Moss – received a four month prison sentence, suspended for two years and asked to pay costs of £10,442 payable within six months.
Peter Boddy – was fined to pay £4,000 per count (total £8,000) and asked to pay costs of £10,442 payable within six months.
Details of the charges:
David Moss convicted of:
Forgery, contrary to section 1 of the Forgery and Counterfeiting Act 1981
Peter Boddy convicted of:
Failing to comply with food traceability requirements, contrary to Regulation 4 of the General Food Regulations 2004 and Regulation 18(3) of Regulation (EC) 178/2002
Failing to comply with food traceability requirements, contrary to Regulation 4 of the General Food Regulations 2004 and Regulation 18(2) of Regulation (EC) 178/2002
