Meat seller 'was honest'

It is claimed unfit meat was sold for human consumption

A company director accused of selling chicken unfit for human consumption was an "honest man" who forced his staff to take a hygiene course, a court has heard.

David Alan Watson and his employees attended classes to learn about cleanliness, meat storage and other issues such as disease, Nottingham Crown Court was told on Monday.

But the 38-year-old "didn't have a clue" about running a business and only took over at the firm, SJ Watson, in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, after his father retired.

Mr Watson, of Bletchley, is accused with four other men of conspiracy to defraud their customers and the public by selling condemned meat obtained from slaughterhouses by Denby Poultry Products Ltd, of Denby, Derbyshire, to supermarkets and old people's homes across the country.

The court has been told the alleged deception between 1995 and 2001 earned the ringleaders about £836,000.

He (David Watson) didn't have a clue at first

Christopher Scales

Giving evidence, Christopher George Scales, a butcher and van driver at SJ Watson, told the court that David Watson took over from his father Brian in early 1999.

Brian Watson was a "hard man", not easy to get on with and made all the decisions at the firm, he said.

David, who had experience selling meat at markets, did not know any of the suppliers when he took over and had to be taught how to run the business.

Mr Scales said: "He didn't have a clue at first."

'Honest man'

However though there was no statutory requirement to do so, he enrolled everyone on a meat health and hygiene course at a local college.

Asked whether Mr Watson was an honest man, he replied: "Very much so."

The other men accused of the fraud are Peter Roberts, 68, of Chaddesden, Derby, who was owner of Denby Poultry until 2000, and van driver Simon Haslam, 39, of Belper, Derbyshire, whose bank account was allegedly used to launder money.

Also in the dock are Brian William John Davies, 64, of Bury, Greater Manchester, and Brian Paul Davies, 37, of Bury, who ran B Davies Meats.

Jurors have been told that Mr Roberts has failed to appear at court and is being tried in his absence.

The case continues.