A Leicestershire man charged in connection with an alleged scam which saw consumers eat turkey they believed to be halal lamb denied he wrongly re-labelled the meat to defraud customers.
Mohammed Anwarul Hoque, (56), a council worker father-of-three, is on trial along with three other men, including his son. Leicester Crown Court previously heard a trading standards investigation found owners of restaurants, takeaways and shops across Leicstershire and the East Midlands unwittingly bought tonnes of low-cost turkey passed off as more expensive lamb off the bone.
Earlier in the trial the director of the firm at the centre of the alleged scam - the now defunct Peterborough-based Dutch Bangla Ltd - said he had no knowledge of the alleged fraud which came to light during an investigation into the national horse meat scandal with food tests showing turkey DNA in dishes supposed to be lamb.
On Friday, Hoque, who denies being part of the conspiracy, took to the witness box to say he was involved in helping his son, Zunaid, who also faces the conspiracy charge. The trial will continue on February 27.
