Slaughterhouse boss first to face jail over horsemeat scandal
The boss of a slaughterhouse has become the first person to face jail over the horsemeat scandal after he admitted failing to abide by EU meat rules.
Peter Boddy, 65, admitted one count of failing to abide by EU meat traceability regulations concerning more than 17 horse carcasses.
The charge carries a maximum sentence of two years' imprisonment.
He 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 horsemeat.
Prosecutors said they did not know where the meat might have ended up.
The slaughterhouse's 54-year-old manager David Moss, admitted forging an invoice concerning the number of horses sold in a transaction on February 12 2013.
But he denied failing to comply with food traceability requirements for more than 17 horse carcasses between July 2012 and February 2013, and the charge was left to lie on file, as well as a charge of failing to comply with EU meat traceability regulations.
The pair will be sentenced on March 23 at Southwark Crown Court.