'Disgusting!' Chef kept fish in his bathtub before selling them to supermarkets in ready meals

Dan McDonald
Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:27:16 +0000

A Watford businessman who kept fish in a bath beside his toilet before cooking them into ready meals for sale has avoided jail.

Stephen Akuoko, 62, ran his operation under the name Tribal Foods for more than three years in the Hertfordshire town.

His products were found to have excessively long use-by dates and lacked proper ingredient labelling.

Watford Borough Council’s environmental health officers had been investigating the business over food safety concerns, but Akuoko proved difficult to trace.

TRENDING

Stories

Videos

Your Say

That changed in October 2024 when firefighters were called to a wok fire at his flat on Haines Way.

Emergency crews discovered large quantities of dead fish lying in the bathtub and on the bathroom floor next to the toilet.

Trading Standards later launched an investigation, with Akuoko assuring officials he would stop selling Tribal Foods products.

However, unlabelled items were found in a local shop just weeks later.

CCTV footage showed he had made three deliveries to the store.

The 62-year-old admitted two food safety offences at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday last week.

He was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended, and banned from running a food business for five years.

Prosecutor Michael Coley told the court Akuoko had been hostile when contacted by officers and accused them of harassment.

CRIME - READ THE LATEST:

Chicken shop customer pulls fake gun on staff after being given wrong sauce

Police launch murder probe after man stabbed at popular London beauty spot

Joey Barton pleads not guilty to assault after incident near golf club

Following the fire, Akuoko claimed the food at his property was for personal and family use, the court heard.

After being issued with remedial action, he promised his products would no longer be sold in Watford.

“This was an intentional breach and a flagrant disregard for the law,” Mr Coley said.

Akuoko pleaded guilty to breaching food safety and hygiene regulations and failing to comply with a remedial action notice.

His defence barrister, Aleister Adamson, said Akuoko had previously run a supermarket but lost the lease following a costly legal dispute.

He was left homeless before securing social housing and later set up Tribal Foods.

“He was not in receipt of any benefits at that time and was relying on the business, which was not profitable at any stage, to support his basic living needs,” Mr Adamson said.

Judge Francis Sheridan said: “Your little business got bigger than you could handle and you resorted to frankly disgusting techniques - fish on the floor of the bathroom, fish in the bathtub, and then you cooked them up and sold them.

“How you would even think about serving food kept like that to even your own family beggars belief.”

The judge said the food was “frankly unfit for human consumption” and warned food poisoning could have resulted in death.

Justine Hoy, associate director for housing and wellbeing at Watford Borough Council, said: “Food safety laws exist to protect the public.

“We will not hesitate to take action where businesses or individuals put public health at risk,” she added.