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52
for sale 43 pieces of beef, roughly amounting to about 3 quarters
of a carcase, which he judged to be of a suspicious character and
as to which he sought my advice. I found the beef in question
to be very black, sticky, and of soapy consistency, giving me the
idea that the animal had been insufficiently bled ; this aroused
the suspicion that it had not been slaughtered, but had died of
some disease or accident. I therefore seized it, and on finding
that the remainder of the carcase had been disposed of in
Smithfield Market I communicated with the Veterinary Inspector
of that Market, who had that portion seized.
I found on further enquiry that the owner of the meat was a
native of Bishop Stortford, and on making enquiries there ascertained
that he bore a most unenviable character, and that he had
recently served a term of imprisonment for a similar offence.
He disappeared from his shop immediately after our seizure,
and it was some considerable time before the police were able to
find him to serve a summons.
At the Police Court proceedings he did not appear. The Bench
inflicted a fine of £10 and costs, or in default a month's imprisonment.
He was not found for many months, but on the 15th of
November, 1911, he appeared at Stratford Police Court and paid
the fine.
He was then, on his return to Bishop Stortford, served with a
summons at the instance of the City of London Authorities, and
in default of paying £10 and costs went to prison for a month.