'Disgusting’ bath-stored fish used in ready meals as businessman avoids prison
Stephen Akuoko, 62, sold products that had inappropriately long use-by dates and a lack of detail on ingredients for more than three years under the company name Tribal Foods
A businessman has avoided jail after he was found guilty of storing fish in the bath next to his toilet before using them in ready meals sold illegally in supermarkets.
Listen to this article
Stephen Akuoko, 62, sold products that had inappropriately long use-by dates and a lack of detail on ingredients for more than three years under the company name Tribal Foods.
His business, which had been operating in Watford, was tracked by the borough council's environmental health team due to concerns about the products.
Read more: Moment deadly knife fight broke out in Primrose Hill, leaving man, 21, dead and another injured
Read more: Teenagers arrested after four youths stabbed outside Welsh train station
But officials were unable to find him until he was rumbled by a fire at his home on Haines Way in October 2024.
Firefighters who attended the scene discovered huge quantities of fish in the bath and on the floor of the bathroom next to the toilet.
Akuoko told Trading Standards investigators that he would stop selling Tribal Foods products.
But a week after the fire, his unlabelled products were found in a local shop with CCTV footage showing he had made three deliveries to the store.
The owner later pleaded guilty to to two food safety offences.
At St Albans Crown Court, the judge blasted him for the meals that were "unfit for human consumption" and handed him a two-year suspended prison sentence.
He was also given a five-year ban from operating any food business.
Prosecutor Michael Coley said an investigation into Tribal Foods was launched by the environmental health team after they found ready meals in local shops with inappropriately long use-by dates and a lack of detail on ingredients.
Mr Coley said the company owner Akuoko was difficult to track down and when officers managed to speak to him on the phone, he became aggressive and accused them of harassment.
When a wok fire broke out at his home, Akuoko claimed all the food in the property was for him and his family, Mr Coley said.
He went on to assure officers they would not see Tribal Foods products in Watford again.
But weeks later, they found his unlabelled products in a local shop.
Officials then trawled through CCTV footage and found he had made three deliveries to one shop in a matter of weeks.
"This was an intentional breach and a flagrant disregard for the law," Mr Coley said.
Akuoko later pleaded guilty to contravening food safety and hygiene regulations and failing to comply with a remedial action notice.
In mitigation, Aleister Adamson said his client had owned a supermarket for many years until the property's lease expired.
He then became homeless after losing an expensive legal fight, until he was given social housing.
It was while he was living there he set up Tribal Foods, which he initially operated from a rented kitchen space before he started cooking from home.
"He was not in receipt of any benefits at that time and was relying on the business, which was not profitable at any stage, to support his basic living needs," Mr Adamson said.
Judge Francis Sheridan said: "Your little business got bigger than you could handle and you resorted to frankly disgusting techniques - fish on the floor of the bathroom, fish in the bathtub, and then you cooked them up and sold them.
"How you would even think about serving food kept like that to even your own family beggars belief.
"You were preparing food for supply to outlets, supermarkets and corner stores, and the food was frankly unfit for human consumption.
"You might be a good cook of oriental foods in your own home, but you should keep that within your own home.
"You must realise that food poisoning can have very serious consequences, even death, and if that had happened you would be facing manslaughter charges."
Judge Sheridan praised the "dogged" efforts of the environmental health team who he said had performed a public service.
Justine Hoy, Associate Director Housing and Wellbeing for Watford Borough Council, said: "Food safety laws exist to protect the public.
"In this case, there was a clear and sustained failure to comply with legal requirements, despite formal enforcement action being taken.
"We will not hesitate to take action where businesses or individuals put public health at risk.
"This successful prosecution demonstrates our commitment to maintaining high food safety standards across Watford."