Business ban for restaurant owner

A mouse nibbled bag found in Suruchi

A former restaurant boss caught with mouse droppings in his Edinburgh premises has been banned from managing any food business for six months.

Herman Rodrigues pled guilty to five charges against him and his business, Indi Foods Ltd, after his restaurant Suruchi broke food hygiene regulations.

Rodrigues, 47, who appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court on Friday, is expected to be fined next month.

He will need court permission before he can manage a restaurant again.

Environmental health inspectors from Edinburgh City Council visited the premises in the city's Nicholson Street in April 2006 and found mouse droppings near glasses and bags of flour and a leaking waste pipe.

Fiscal depute, Dev Kapadia, said the restaurant had "a chequered history" as Indi Foods was fined £1,800 in 2006 for failing to control cockroaches and rodents at Suruchi in 2005.

Mr Kapadia said inspectors wrote to Rodrigues on several occasions about the restaurant and asked to meet with him, but he said he was "not interested" and failed to attend the meeting and the restaurant was closed voluntarily by staff that day.

Rodrigues' earnings

The court was told Indi Foods, of which Rodrigues was the director, has been dissolved and Rodrigues is no longer in the restaurant business and rents Suruchi's premises out to new owners.

Rodrigues was charged with 10 offences under the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations 2006, and admitted five, including failing to ensure the premises were kept clean and in a good state of repair and failing to ensure drainage facilities were adequate for purpose in that the waste pipe for the wash hand basin was broken causing foul water to gather in the kitchen.

He also pled guilty to failing to ensure food was protected against contamination, failing to ensure adequate procedures were in place to control pests and failing to ensure those responsible for hygiene were adequately trained.

Massimo Dalvito, defending, said Rodrigues, of Edinburgh, had franchised the restaurant out to another man for six months and had put him in charge of the running and hygiene matters at the time.

Sheriff Allan said he wanted to see Rodrigues' accounts before he decided on a fine, adding that he was "not satisfied" he had the full picture about Rodrigues' earnings.

The case will be back in court next month.