Inside the filthy takeaway covered in dirt and grease where a customer was served mouldy food
Council inspectors visited the Sicily Italian Takeaway on the Cloth Market after a customer complained they had been sold mouldy food
THESE pictures show the inside of a filthy takeaway where a customer was served mouldy food and grease covered the equipment.
Paint could be seen peeling from the walls and dirt covering the surfaces in an Italian takeaway, the owner of which had been given warnings before.
Council inspectors visited the Sicily Italian Takeaway in Newcastle after customers complained they had received mouldy food.
They found filthy surfaces, grease-covered equipment and dirty walls.
The business was closed but boss Belal Aljibouri told them he had cleaned up and asked to be reopened.
But when the inspectors returned they found the takeaway to be still in poor condition.
Aljibouri, of Dilston Road, Newcastle, admitted five food safety and hygiene offences at Newcastle Magistrates' Court.
It transpired during the hearing the 52-year-old had seven previous food hygiene convictions, all for the same takeaway.
Melanie Bulman, prosecuting, said: “The business was closed after an inspection on December 11 2015 and then officers were informed that improvements had been made.
“They attended again at the request of the business. Photographs were taken and there was no real improvement at all.
“There were still dirty surfaces.
“He has a poor food hygiene record and has been offered advice in the past that has obviously not been taken.”
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John Graham, defending, said: “This is a 52-year-old married man with five children. He is a decent hardworking man.
"The latest load of offences come from back problems. He had been absent from this business for some time and had put faith in the staff but they had not been doing what they should have been doing.
“This business at the time was failing. It was closed in December 2015 and it has not reopened.
"He is aware that even if he comes back involved in the business he will have to take some professional courses.
“He is on his uppers and he is on job seeker’s allowance.”
Councillor Nick Kemp, Newcastle City Council cabinet member for regulation, said: “The city council supports good businesses but we also hold to account businesses which put the public at risk.
“The hygiene breaches in this case are particularly shocking, and customers would quite rightly expect the council to prosecute.
“It’s incumbent on all food establishments to comply with food hygiene regulations intended to protect public health.
"I note that Mr Aljibouri has pleaded guilty to these offences and like others I await his sentencing.”
Aljibouri no longer owns the lease to the takeaway and at present it stands empty.
Magistrate Francis Spowart-Taylor granted Aljibouri unconditional bail and he will be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court in November.
This is a video of a different restaurant.
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