Two Yorkshire-based chicken processors have been ordered to collectively pay nearly £20,000 to bakery equipment company Bakers Basco for using its equipment without consent.
Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Ltd of Barnsley and Ijaz Halal Poultry Ltd of Bradford were ordered by the County Court in Barnsley to pay the money to Bakers Basco for using its bread baskets and other equipment without permission for transporting their products.
They were both made the subject of indefinite restraining injunctions to prevent them from converting such equipment for their own uses in the future.
District Judge Branchflower also ordered that Bakers Basco has the ongoing right to inspect both companies’ premises without advance warning to check for future equipment misuse.
Al-Ummah Halal Poultry Limited was ordered to pay £15,716 in damages and costs, while Ijaz Halal Poultry Ltd was ordered to pay £3,500 in damages. They were also made jointly and severally liable to discharge the awarded legal costs in the absence of Al-Ummah discharging that liability.
The court hearing followed a number of occasions on which both defendants were found to be using the equipment, owned by Bakers Basco or its membership, which is designed for the sole purpose of transporting the membership’s bread and other bakery products.
Court proceedings have been issued against Al-Ummah by Bakers Basco Limited historically, over similar offences and as a consequence they had been subject to an earlier injunction that had subsequently expired. Historically it had made payments totalling £31,806.53 in damages and costs.
“Our baskets and dollies are designed for one sole purpose and that is to transport bread safely, cost-effectively and in an environmentally-friendly way,” said Steve Millward, general manager at Bakers Basco.
“When people divert them for their own use, it not only has a knock-on effect on the bakers that pay to license them but also on retailers and, at the end of the day, Joe Public, all of whom end up footing the bill for the actions of a small minority.”
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
