THE owner of a filthy takeaway where evidence of a “widespread rodent infestation” was found has been spared jail.

Mohammed Imran, 36, of Emmerson Avenue, appeared before Bradford Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced for a raft of food hygiene failings.

He was the owner of Kaykashan Roti House on Carlisle Place, Manningham, and last month pleaded guilty to eight charges of failing to comply with EU food safety laws, which had been brought by Bradford Council.

There was horror when disgusting images of what Environmental Health Officers discovered came to light after Imran’s first court appearance.

However, the court heard he had suffered attacks on his home in the aftermath of the publicity, where his house and car were spray painted and had lost a significant amount of money and had fake orders and nuisance phone calls.

Imran has now handed the lease over as he is no longer financially able to continue the business.

Prosecutor Giles Bridge told the court that on December 4, a phone call from a customer of the takeaway was received complaining about food her and her friends had purchased. Both had stomach cramps and diarrhoea.

An inspection was carried out on December 6 last year. Imran was not present, but the court heard “it became apparent that the defendant had given instructions to staff to try and sort some of the issues in the premises”.

The officers found dirty food preparation areas and equipment, evidence of a "widespread rodent infestation", a dead mouse, droppings in a counter fridge and on shelves next to pans and the kitchen floor, plus dirty cloths in the front serving area.

On top of this, the court heard an employee told the officer he had not cleaned down any of the surfaces.

Aprons were filthy and many parts of the food safety management system produced by the Food Standards Agency had not been completed at all.

And while there were entries indicating deep cleans had taken place on November 19, 20, 21, 22 and 26 "the conditions found that day showed that this was plainly not the case".

An emergency hygiene prohibition notice was served and the premises were closed, with a letter sent with advice on how to reduce the health risk.

On December 13, officers returned to the takeaway, at Imran's request, and it was found that drinks cans and packaging contaminated with mouse droppings had not been disposed of, however he did get rid of them during the visit. Written permission was then given to re-open.

A further visit took place on January 10 and outstanding matters had not been addressed, including evidence of mouse droppings, poor cleaning and food not being kept at correct temperatures.

He had also attempted to cut corners financially by using someone else's account to obtain food hygiene training certificates online, however it was accepted they were genuine.

In mitigation, the court heard of the impact the situation had on Imran, that it was not an intentional breach of the rules and had taken his eye off the ball in the running of the business to look after his wife. The judge, Recorder Simon Kealey said he'd had "flagrant disregard" over a prolonged period of time.

"You were given warning after warning and you simply took no notice," he said.

He was given a six-month jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, must carry out 120 hours of unpaid work and pay £500 towards court costs.