Yorkshire slaughter boss admits horsemeat charges

A West Yorkshire slaughterhouse boss has became the first person to plead guilty to criminal charges connected to the horsemeat scandal which rocked British supermarkets last year.

Peter Boddy, 65, admitted failing to comply with food traceability regulations which state the source of meat should be traceable from field to fork.

Boddy, who runs a slaughterhouse in Todmorden, admitted selling 50 horses for meat but failing to keep proper records to show who bought them.

There is no suggestion that buyers did not know they were purchasing horse meat.

Prosecutors said they did not know where the meat might have ended up.

Wearing a beige jacket and blue shirt, Boddy stood in the dock at London's Southwark Crown Court and pleaded guilty to the single count.

David Moss, the slaughterhouse's manager, denied forging an invoice concerning the number of horses sold in a transaction.

Both men are also charged with failing to comply with food traceability requirements for more than 17 horse carcasses between July 2012 and February 2013.

But they did not enter pleas and intend to apply for the charge to be dismissed.

The pair will stand trial next year, at a date to be confirmed, at Southwark Crown Court.