Gressingham director fined

Geoffery Buchanan, 38, from Woodbridge, Suffolk, admitted breaches of legislation, in relation to the disposal of dead birds, when he appeared before magistrates in Bury St Edmunds.

The court heard that during an avian flu outbreak last year bird carcasses from Gressinhgam Foods had been initially deposited in a container located near thousands of live turkeys. They were later disposed of correctly.

The prosecution said that at a time of a bird flu outbreak this was a serious breach of regulations.

In mitigation Buchanan said he had been following practises used by existing employees that he understood to be legal. He added that he had not acted out of financial gain.

In fining him £4,000 with £3,500 costs magistrates agreed the case was one of negligence rather than a deliberate breach of the law.

After the case Buchanan told reporters in a statement that there was no link between the avian flu outbreak and the court case.

He added: "We very much regret the offences and accept the sentence imposed by the court. We always work with Trading Standards and Defra and other regulatory bodies and we will continue to do so. We are confident our systems have been substantially improved and we will not be repeating these errors."

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