Ulrik Nielsen, 57, from Gentofte near Copenhagen in Denmark, and Alex Beech, 44, of Highfield Close, Hull, today pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud after horse flesh was mixed with beef but it was labelled as just beef.\u00a0The scandal rocked the British meat industry and sparked a rash of product recalls.<\/p>\n
Prosecutor Jonathan Polna, said the guilty defendants are planning to formally set out in writing their involvement in the fraud.<\/p>\n
“There are issues relating to the precise dates of the indictment, the precise number of shipments that were undertaken, and the financial loss to others.\u00a0 There may be an issue as to the consequential losses to the food industry as a whole, and whether it’s possible to attribute a figure to be put on it.”<\/p>\n
The third defendant, Sideras, of Southgate, north London, denied the same charge.\u00a0He will return to court to stand trial on July 3.<\/p>\n
Judge Usha Karu said: “Mr Sideras’ issue is he denies being part of the conspiracy, and he denies mixing the beef and horsemeat in any way.”<\/p>\n
Beech and Nielsen were freed on bail until sentencing at the end of the trial. \u00a0The judge said, “dependant on the nature and extent of the allegations, a custodial sentence would be included in any sentencing options.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"