An environmental health officer who visited the premises unannounced found 20 black bags of meat carcases in the backyard and rats scampering around.
Rats were lying dead, and the bagged meat had turned to mulch in the yard.
Inside the premises where meat was butchered, meat debris was sticking to kitchen knives, walls were splattered with blood leading down to a basement, a wash basin was hanging off a wall, there was no hand washing facilities in an outside toilet, cigarette butts littered the floor and there was a foul smell coming from a freezer packed with chicken carcasses.
Freej Korkamas, the director of the business, Fresh Meat Newcastle Ltd, at 395a Westgate Road, Newcastle, which sold raw halal beef, chicken and lamb to businesses and walk in customers failed to turn up at court on two occasions to hear the charges the company faced.
The magistrate decided to hear the case in his absence and found the business guilty of four food hygiene offences.
The court heard that the environmental health officer called at the premises on November 30, 2023, after receiving a complaint about waste accumulating in the rear of the premises. Korkamas was not present, so the officer walked through the premises to the back yard and was confronted by the bags of rotting meat and dead rats.
Meat carcases were also inside the premises, and the backyard was stacked high with blood splattered cardboard boxes.
The officer became concerned when a delivery arrived at the shop while she was there and a whole pallet of chicken in cardboard boxes was deposited in the backyard.
Korkamas was later interviewed by officers at the Civic Centre, and admitted the conditions were unacceptable but blamed his staff when he was not around to supervise them. He said he put the bags of waste in his backyard because other businesses were filling his bins with their waste.
The court heard he had very poor hygiene knowledge and had not completed any formal food hygiene training. The business had no food hygiene checks or food management system in place to ensure it operated safely.
The company was fined £10,000, ordered to pay a £2,000 surcharge and £939 in legal costs.
The court heard an application to strike off the company had been suspended pending the outcome of the court case.
Deputy leader of Newcastle City Council, Cllr Alex Hay, who has responsibility for regulatory services, said he was horrified by the case.
Cllr Hay said: “Quite rightly people will be appalled. The conditions in this shop were truly horrendous and I congratulate our officers for bringing this prosecution.
“The business posed a serious risk to public health due to its high quantities of raw meat processed here under unsatisfactory conditions, and it is fortunate - as far as we are aware - that no one was made ill with meat bought from there.
“There is no place for shops like Fresh Meat Newcastle in our city. I hope the substantial fine sends a strong message to any company flouting food hygiene regulations that the council will use the full force of the law to punish them. The public quite rightly expect and deserve far better than this.”