THE owners of an Abergavenny takeaway have been ordered to pay £10,000 in fines and costs after admitting responsibility to a food poisoning outbreak that left 11 people, including a young boy, in hospital.

Newport Magistrates’ Court heard that Sami Abdullah, 46, and Hassan Saritag, 38 who ran the Marmaris Kebab House in Abergavenny pleaded guilty to the food hygiene hospitals that left 51 people ill.

A lengthy investigation by Public Health Wales into “an increase in cases of gastrointestinal illness” in Abergavenny, determined that customers had eaten food contaminated with shigella bacteria which could be ‘positively linked’ to the kebab shop.

Customers who had fallen ill developed common symptoms such as “vomiting, fevers, terrible stomach cramps and blood in their diarrhoea.”

Public Health Wales described shigella as an intestinal infection that "is not life-threatening, although in some cases it may result in hospitalisation, symptoms usually clear up within four to five days."

The court heard that although the exact source of the outbreak was uncertain it was connected with failing to keep washed and unwashed vegetables separate during the the preparation of coleslaw.

In a prosecution brought by Monmouthshire Council’s environmental health department, takeaway director Abdullah and his associate Saritag previously admitted to selling unsafe food and failing to follow food safety procedures.

The court was told that the food poisoning outbreak had a “widespread impact” on the victims and an 11-year-old boy had developed diabetes as a consequence of falling ill.

District Judge Sophie Toms told the pair that their actions had “a serious impact on the health and wellbeing” of their customers.

"We all know takeaway businesses and their success is built on the trust of that business to keep people safe.

"You both failed to do that, breaking the trust of people in Abergavenny and causing significant harm," she said.

Mr Abdullah’s defense lawyer told the court that his client, from Cwmbran, had worked in restaurants for a long time without any previous hygiene issues.

He explained, “Mr Abdullah offers his deepest apologies to those affected and in particular those who suffered permanently.”

The court heard that Mr Saritag also enjoyed a previously unblemished record in the food sector and described this incident as an “isolated breach nobody saw coming” which involved a rare form of E.coli.

Specialist public health lawyer Jatinder Paul told the court that the effects of food poisoning could never underestimated.

He said in a statement, “Gastric illness through contaminated food is serious and can lead to long-term health complications, such as those experienced by our client John Inglesby.

"While nothing can change what happened, we hope that today's hearing will ensure that all appropriate measures are taken to prevent something similar from occurring in the future."

The court ordered that Abdullah pay a £2,000 fine, while Saritag was fined £3,065.

The pair were also ordered to pay £2,792 in costs.

The business is now under new ownership.