A grim Indian restaurant overrun with rats and cockroaches was forced to close down for posing an "enormous risk to public health."
Stomach-churning pictures captured inside The Jewel Balti in Chepstow Road, Newport show mounds of decomposing maggots scattered all over the floor. Cockroaches were also present and rats could be heart "scurrying in the walls."
The eatery, which was still serving food, had to be shut down by environmental health officers. It came after Newport council received a complaint about the restaurant in January 2022, WalesOnline reports.
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When officers visited on January 11, former director Aktar Miah was there and questioned if he could deny them entry. At Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, it was revealed that Miah admitted to the officers that the "kitchen needed to be cleaned."
However, the inspection showed a serious lack of cleanliness with a build-up of grime and filth. Prosecutor Tom Roberts said there was an area on the kitchen floor covered in a white mass of debris and fluid, which turned out to be decomposing maggots and live cockroaches.
There were significant cockroach droppings indicating an active infestation. An officer spotted a rat hiding in a hole while walking through a corridor. She tried to take a photo of the rodent, but it vanished and could be heard scurrying behind the walls.
Raw meat was being kept in dirty containers and in some cases was uncovered and stored outside. The walls and floors were coated in dirt and grime with marks of oily rodent fur rat droppings and trays of foul-smelling water. When officers sprayed the floor Mr Roberts described a "swarm of cockroaches" descending to the area.
The grimy restaurant was run by brothers Aktar Miah, 37, and Afzal Miah, 28, who were the directors of Desi Kitchen. The prosecutor said: "There was an active and longstanding infestation of cockroaches and rats. It was obvious and could not have been missed by the defendants. There were a number of infestations but they continued to operate and serve food to the public providing an enormous risk to public health."
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After Aktar Miah's wife took over the running of the restaurant, there have been "significant improvements" and it remains open. However, the brothers pleaded guilty to numerous counts of failing to comply with hygiene regulations.
Aktar Miah's advocate, Tarriq Saddique, said his client fully accepted responsibility for the state of the kitchen but stated that no member of the public had been affected by consumption of the food. The barrister said court proceedings had been hanging over his client's head for a considerable period of time.
Afzal Miah, who represented himself, said he served as a carer for his elderly mother and was actively looking for work.
Judge Shoman Khan, during sentencing, said: "You are to be sentenced for frankly appalling food hygiene… Having looked at the photographs it's difficult to imagine a more concerning set of affairs. Just listening to those descriptions are just concerning and the fact this restaurant traded in these conditions is appalling.
"There was a mass of decomposing maggots found by officers amongst which were live cockroaches. There was clearly a lengthy period of cockroach infestation, rats and rat droppings, rats heard scurrying in the kitchen walls…. What struck me when hearing the facts was people were willing to work in these conditions. I find that astonishing let alone the fact that you were prepared to serve customers in those appalling filthy conditions."
Aktar Miah received a 12-month suspended sentence, while Afzal Miah got a 10-month suspended sentence and was ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,400 in court costs. Desi Kitchen was slapped with a hefty £14,000 fine.
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