Inspectors ‘bullied’ by E.coli abattoir bosses

Mar 19 2008 by Our Correspondent, South Wales Echo

INSPECTORS charged with overseeing the abattoir which supplied E.coli butcher William Tudor were bullied and assaulted by its owners, it has been claimed.

In one alleged incident, Billy Tudor – William Tudor's uncle – threw an object at an inspector who was responsible for overseeing the slaughtering process at JE Tudor & Son.

The E.coli inquiry also heard that attempts to improve long-standing hygiene and maintenance problems at the Treorchy slaughterhouse were not robust enough, with officials taking a “softly, softly” approach.

But despite a catalogue of persistent and flagrant breaches of the law, which dated back to the early 1990s, the abattoir was allowed to continue operating until 2006 when it voluntarily closed.

JE Tudor & Son had been identified as a failing or difficult plant in 2000 – when it was run by Billy Tudor.

Phillip Stallard , the Meat Hygiene Service area manager for South East Wales, said Billy Tudor senior was a very intimidating person and had once assaulted an inspector, throwing an object at him from across the slaughterhouse. And when he was called into a meeting at the Welsh Office, security officers were put on alert.

Alvaro Pastoriza , a vet at the plant between 2003 and 2006 said: “(Billy Tudor) was a difficult man and had a very, very difficult relationship with anyone who was telling him what to do.”

James Eadie, the inquiry’s senior counsel, said: “This rather begs the question why everyone was bending over backwards to allow this plant to stay in operation.”

Mr Stallard asked Mr Pastoriza, in March, 2004, to “follow the hierarchy of enforcement” when JE Tudor & Son – then run by Jonathan Tudor – was identified as one of the worst seven plants in Wales.

This meant that Jonathan Tudor should have been issued with verbal and then written enforcement notices for any breaches of legislation. If these continued, it was suggested that a case should be put together for prosecution.

But officials continued their “softly, softly” approach and the same problems were repeatedly highlighted.

Mr Pastoriza said: “We were pointing out deficiencies over and over again but he (Jonathan Tudor) wasn’t proactive to the problems.”

Mr Stallard added: “I don’t think we were robust enough on the enforcement as we could have been.”

He said the “final nail” was a 2005 appraisal report, which showed that JE Tudor & Son would not comply with the forthcoming 2006 regulations. But despite this, the abattoir continued to trade for another six months until Jonathan Tudor voluntarily shut it down because of the costs associated with upgrading the plant to meet tougher regulations.

The final day of the E.coli public inquiry will today continue taking evidence about the Meat Hygiene Service’s inspections of JE Tudor & Son.

madeleine.brindley@mediawlaes.co.uk