The proprietor of an Indian restaurant in south London recently went to extreme measures to rid the premises of vermin during a routine health inspection by local authorities. Unfortunately for those inspectors, that involving killing a rat and leaving it in a pool of blood -- right in front of them.
Following the incident, Rajakumar Rajalingam of New Chutney Express in Tooting was unsurprisingly slapped with a roughly $32,100 (£20,000) fine last week after pleading guilty to series of food safety and trading standards offences.
The charges stemmed not only from the rat-killing incident, but from the shop's appalling hygiene conditions. The Independent writes that the officers found even more rodents, as well as their droppings -- visible in plain sight -- in food preparation areas and shelves. Chicken bones were found gnawed, likely the work of vermin that had entered the restaurant through an uncovered drain under a sink.
Rajalingam was also found guilty of selling counterfeit Jacob's Creek wine at a nearby shop he also owned and fined about $8,000 (£5,000); he'd previously been nabbed for selling counterfeit Champagne in 2007.
At Rajalingam's sentencing, a judge called his actions "disgraceful" and said he should be “heartily ashamed of himself."
Photo by Flickr user Kake Pugh.