Three Men Charged Over Sale Of Mixed Beef And Horsemeat

Three men have been charged with fraud in connection with the sale of mixed beef and horsemeat products.

The men are Alex Ostler-Beech, 43, from Hull, 57-year-old Ulrik Nielsen from Gentofte, Denmark, and Andrew Sideras, 54, from Southgate.

They are due before City of London Magistrates' Court on Tuesday 27 September, charged with conspiracy to defraud between 1 January and 31 October 2012.

The Crown Prosecution Service said they were accused of dishonestly arranging "for beef and horsemeat to be combined for sale as beef".

The CPS's head of specialist fraud, Kristin Jones said: "After carefully considering evidence from the UK and overseas, the CPS has decided that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to charge these three men."

Mr Ostler-Beech and Mr Sideras were first arrested in July 2013, while Mr Nielsen was interviewed the following month.

City of London Police said it had worked in partnership with the Food Standards Agency and the CPS.

Other law enforcement agencies across the UK and Europe were involved too.

UK supermarkets were rocked by a horsemeat contamination crisis in 2013.

Various amounts of horse flesh were found in products labelled as beef and other meats.