Horsemeat con trio get 8 years

THREE fraudsters who mixed beef with 30 tonnes of cheap horsemeat from animals including pets to sell as ‘100 per cent beef’ have been jailed.

At least 83,000kg of the ‘horsebeef’ was bought by unwitting food firms, destined for ready meals, pies and frozen meals in supermarkets across Europe.

Ulrik Nielson, 58, Alex Beech, , and Andronicos Sideras, 55, were foiled in 2013 when inspectors found batches of the meat contained horse identification chips, including some from pet ponies.

Nielson and Beech admitted conspiracy to defraud in October, which Sideras denied. He was tried and found guilty.

At Inner London Crown Court yesterday, Nielson, of Gentofte, Denmark, was jailed for three years and six months; Sideras, from Southgate, north London, was jailed for four years and six months; and Beech, from Kingston upon Hull, East Yorkshire, was given an 18-month suspended jail term.