Devizes meat trader put consumers 'at serious risk' after operating from filthy car wash

A Devizes meat trader who operated out of filthy car washes 'put consumers and their families at serious risk'.

Gent Jakupi, cut and stored more than five tonnes of meat at the premises, in what has been branded a 'dangerous' operation.

The former army reservist, formerly of New Park Street, Devizes, has now been ordered to pay back over £150K by Swindon Crown Court.

In December last year, Mr Jakupi was sent to prison for six months after pleading guilty to 39 food hygiene offences for placing unfit meat on the market and other hygiene offences.

When Wiltshire Council's Food and Safety Team raided his business in 2020, a national food alert was issued warning meat that had already been supplied was unfit for consumption.

Mr Jakupi turned up to court last year dressed in his Rifles regiment uniform.

Following the conviction of Gent Jakupi, a Proceeds of Crime investigation found he had made £154,000 from his criminal activity.

He has been ordered to pay this within three months or face a default prison term of three months in addition to his original sentence.

Yvonne Barwani, from the National Food Crime Unit, said: “This is a satisfying result and shows that food crime does not pay.

“This investigation and subsequent prosecution also provide a good example of organisations working closely together to ensure that consumers are protected from illegal activity”

Cllr Ian Blair Pilling, from Wiltshire Council, said: “I am pleased that in addition to the original conviction and custodial sentence, Mr Jakupi has been ordered to pay back his ill-gotten gains.

“This was one of the worst cases that our Food and Safety team have dealt with and the defendant put consumers and their families at serious risk.

"I hope that this will act as a warning to others that this dangerous behaviour will not be tolerated in Wiltshire and that they will not prosper from it.

“I would also like to thank our Food and Safety team and the National Food Crime Unit of the Food Standards Agency for their hard work.

“I would also like to thank our Food and Safety team and the National Food Crime Unit of the Food Standards Agency for their hard work.”

Credit: Local Democracy Reporting Service/Jude Holden