The former owner of a Stevenage pub has been fined after pleading guilty to six counts of food hygiene offences.
Corri Burke - who owned the pub in North Road between 2016 and 2018 - appeared at St Albans Crown Court earlier this year.
She admitted to three counts of placing unsafe food on the market and three counts of failing to put procedures in place based on the HACCP principles - a globally-used safety management system.
Stevenage Borough Council Environmental Health and Licensing team prosecuted the case following a food hygiene inspection in 2018.
Environmental health officers found food past its 'use by' date was available for sale on three occasions in 2018, and during the inspection staff were unable to satisfactorily explain the food labelling system.
Undated or incorrectly dated food was found available for sale as well as a failure to maintain the fridge and kitchen in a clean and hygienic condition.
The manager at the time, Samantha Day, had pleaded guilty to the same charges at a hearing in June 2019.
Burke originally pleaded not guilty but changed her plea on March 14, 2022 - five days before the trial was due to start.
She was fined £1,000 with costs awarded to the council of £5,000. Day was fined £500 with costs awarded to the council of £1,000.
Judge Kay QC stated: “This is not rocket science. The dangers are obvious.”
He noted the findings of a 2017 complaint visit, “where raw chicken had been served to a customer”, and the number of issues found during routine inspections at Ms Burke’s other pubs. He stated there had been “actual foresight and wilful blindness”.
The Granby pub is now under new ownership and is known by its former name, The Marquis of Granby. It currently holds a food hygiene rating of 5 - Very Good.
Maurice Clay, senior environmental health and licensing manager, said: “This case demonstrates the necessity of our environmental health officers carrying out routine inspections, to ensure food hygiene, preventing customers being put at risk in the borough.
"The successful outcome of this prosecution shows that where officers find serious wrongdoing, they will not waver when it comes to bringing those responsible for offences to court.”
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