An Aberfeldy restaurateur admitted he had paid less attention to his eaterie than he should have as he was fined £800 for health and safety breaches.
Mahmud Shaheen left a manager in charge of Chillies, Aberfeldy, as he took care of business interests in Glasgow and it was allowed to fall into a grimy state, with food stored incorrectly in a crumbling basement area.
Shaheen (44) admitted two contraventions of the Food Hygiene (Scotland) Regulations which carry a maximum £5000 fine when he appeared at Perth Sheriff Court on Tuesday.
He admitted failing to keep the Dunkeld Street premises clean and in good repair, leaving the windows, walls, doors, pipes, floors, grouting and wash-hand basin and taps unclean. He also accepted food was not protected from contamination, with broken glass beside an open box of unpackaged food, bags of herbs and other ingredients stored in the basement beside a crumbling wall and on untreated wood and eggs stored next to the waste bin.
Depute fiscal Rebecca Kynaston said the Indian restaurant was inspected on September 28 last year and a number of points were deemed “unsatisfactory.”
She said, “The premises was rated Class C which means there should be an inspection the next day whereby if conditions have not sufficiently improved, the contraventions will be noted and sent to the procurator fiscal. That is what happened in this case.”
Shaheen’s solicitor Jim Eodanable said, “Last September he became involved in a business venture in Glasgow and spent a great deal of time and energy at that venture and he put a manager in place at Chillies.Back to ‘A’ rating”Mr Shaheen has been at the helm at Chillies since 1996 and built up a popular restaurant. At this time he was relying on a manager who quite simply was not doing the job and he admits the responsibility for that was his.”
He said the manager was immediately fired and he “quite literally rolled up his sleeves and took the helm again.”
He added Chillies was awarded an ‘A’ rating the best possible at its most recent inspection.
Sheriff Robert McCreadie said the fine would have been £1200 but for the dramatic improvements and early guilty plea.
He said, “Every customer has a right to expect food is prepared and kept safely in a food premises such as a restaurant and you failed in your duty as a responsible person but I take into account the improvements made.”