Owner of food business fined £20k after killing rat in front of inspectors

The owner of a food business in south London who killed a rat in front of council hygiene inspectors has been ordered to pay nearly £20,000 in fines and costs.

Rajakumar Rajalingam, who ran the New Chutney Express in Tooting High Street, pleaded guilty to a number of food safety and trading standards offences.

The defendant had been using a business unit to cook and prepare dishes for the outlet.

Environmental health officers from Wandsworth Council found a serious rodent infestation, with rat and mouse droppings in food preparation areas.

Rajalingam killed one of the rats while he was talking to the officers about the problem. One of the inspectors also nearly trod on a rat during the investigation.

The defendant admitted three food safety offences and pleaded guilty to the same three offences on behalf of New Chutney Express Ltd.

The fines imposed by Kingston Crown Court totalled almost £10,000. Rajalingam was also ordered to pay £4,055 towards the council's prosecution costs.

At the same time the defendant was fined £750 and ordered to pay £4,482 after trading standards officers discovered counterfeit Jacob’s Creek wine on sale in the shop.

He had previously been the subject of legal action by the council in 2007 for selling counterfeit champagne.

Cllr Jonathan Cook, Wandsworth’s spokesman on consumer protection, said: "This was a shocking catalogue of hygiene and food safety breaches. These premises were in a truly appalling state and posed an unacceptable danger to public health.

"The judge was quite right when he told Mr Rajalingam that he should be ashamed of himself. Luckily our food team acted quickly and closed the premises down until they had been properly cleaned and adequate pest proofing measures introduced.”