Illegal shellfish harvesting at Littlehampton and Rustington lands three men in court

The shellfish were taken from beach areas which were not classified for harvesting for human consumption, putting public health at risk.

Arun District Council prosecuted the three men at Worthing Magistrates’ Court last week, in an action which followed numerous complaints from people living along the coast about large quantities of shellfish being stripped from the beaches.

The council’s environmental health department worked with police, the Gangmaster Licensing Authority, the Sussex Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Agency and the Food Standards Agency to bring the case to court.

Arun cabinet member for the environment, councillor Paul Dendle, said: “We believe this is the first successful prosecution of its type and we hope it will deter people considering shellfish gathering from unclassified areas. Gathering shellfish from unclassified areas can put people’s health at serious risk.”

He added: “The council is committed to do all that it can to protect the public’s health and ensure that self-employed people and businesses comply with food hygiene regulations.”

Father and son Iain Heathcote Janes, 50, of Redwood Drive, Portchester, and Matthew Daniel Janes, 32, of Trent Walk, Fareham were each found guilty of four offences under the Food Hygiene (England) Regulations 2006.

In court, the defendants’ legal representative said that the defendants were of previous good character and that the clams were destined for use as bait.

The offences were committed on April 22, 23, 27 April and May 5, 2010. The defendants were witnessed gathering shellfish in the early mornings on the beach at Littlehampton and again shortly after delivering to Viviers, a fish merchants at Camber Docks at Portsmouth.

Magistrates imposed a fine of £300 per offence and £1,000 costs each (totalling £2,200 each). Daniel Sousa, also known as David Doyle, of Lake Road, Portsmouth, also pleaded guilty to a similar offence in an earlier hearing on August 9, 2011, which was held as a result of the same investigation.

* For a fuller story, see this week’s Littlehampton Gazette, on sale tomorrow (Thursday, March 15).