New pictures show state of dirty Wolverhampton shop belonging to owner who got food business ban

Environmental health officers found vermin droppings, food stored near a toilet, a dirty floor, food not labelled or past the best before date on sale and poor equipment among the list of failings at the cramped Etin-Osa Afro-Caribbean Food in Princess Street, Wolverhampton.

Despite repeated warnings, proprietor Margaret Omo-Osagie, aged 52, failed to carry out sufficient improvements to the rented premises, formerly known as AJM Foods, between 2018 and this week.

At Wednesday's hearing at Wolverhampton Crown Court she was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and banned from managing any food premises in England and Wales for five years.

Omo-Osagie, of Riches Street, Whitmore Reans, had previously pleaded guilty to 10 breaches of The Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013.

These were for failing to comply with seven hygiene improvement notices; keep the premises clean; maintain the premises in good repair and condition; ensure that food handlers were supervised and instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters and ensure the council had up-to-date information about the premises.

Investigations by council officers found that the premises only had one sink where two were required for separate handwashing and equipment use.

In addition, the downstairs toilet opened directly into the cellar storeroom where food was stored and handled and there was no hand washing basin available for the toilet.

Councillor Craig Collingswood, cabinet member for city environment and climate change at Wolverhampton Council, said: “This is a very unpleasant case where a city business owner has knowingly put customers at risk.

“Significant illnesses are caused by poor food hygiene and I am shocked by the lack of care shown by the defendant in the case.

“We work very hard to protect residents and consumers and won’t hesitate to prosecute businesses that put people at risk.

“I hope other businesses take note of the court’s judgement and the fact that we take food hygiene very seriously in Wolverhampton.”

The court heard that Omo-Osagie at first ran the grocery shop with her husband, but when she became the sole trader she failed to change the name until recently, failed to inform the city council and started to sell booze without an alcohol licence.

Judge Simon Ward told her: "I have listened with care to what the prosecution describes, more than five years during which you were operating a small food business in Wolverhampton which is posing a risk to public health.

"If you are running a shop that sells food and you continue to fail to keep it clean and comply with food hygiene regulations, then there is a risk that people will get sick. These regulations are there to protect people. It seems to me that it is time for you to stop running this business."