A SHAMED food operator has admitted a string of new offences after he was caught following a detailed probe into the criminal food supply chain in Bradford

Yakub Yusuf, 60, previously jailed for four and a half years for running an illegal meat cutting plant, yesterday pleaded guilty to four charges - which included transporting carcasses in conditions which could put people's health at risk.

Yusuf, of Warley Drive, Bradford Moor, was jailed, with his brother Ibrahim Yusuf, in October 2009, for running a filthy meat cutting plant which food experts believed put lives at risk.

The business racked up huge profits shipping halal poultry and red meat to shops across the north of England.

Yusuf had already been banned from managing a food company after running an abattoir in Shelf which seriously breached food hygiene regulations, leaking animal waste from the premises in a "river of blood."

His latest offending began as soon as he was released from prison, in August 2012, when he got involved in managing a food business despite being prohibited from doing so.

Yusuf appeared at Bradford Crown Court yesterday from custody after failing to attend his trial in September.

He admitted failing to surrender to the court, but insisted he had a reasonable excuse.

His barrister, Simon Keeley, said he had fallen ill in London with a diabetic episode. Mr Keeley said it had been the intention and agreement that there would be acceptable pleas offered.

Yesterday, Yusuf pleaded guilty to participating in the management of a food business when prohibited, between August 10, 2012, and December 2, 2013.

He also admitted a charge of transporting carcasses in a vehicle at temperatures that might result in a risk to health. The charge specified that on December 22, 2012, he transported meat in a Mercedes Sprinter van that was not refrigerated.

Yusuf also pleaded guilty to two further charges of transporting foodstuffs in a conveyance not constructed to permit adequate cleaning or disinfection.

One charge specified transporting sheep carcasses and bags of meat, on April 24, 2013, in a Mercedes Sprinter van which had internal walls constructed from bare wood. The other offence, on March 11, 2013, was similar, but stated that parts of the internal walls were rusty.

Prosecutor Howard Shaw said the pleas were acceptable and he would ask other charges to be left on the file in due course.

Mr Keeley said his client had been arrested in respect of another offence of conspiracy to defraud a meat company in October this year. He said the defendant was likely to admit that matter at a preliminary hearing in Leeds on Monday.

Asking for a pre-sentence and a medical report, Mr Keeley said: "I accept there are a number of convictions, some of a similar nature."

But he said the defendant was in his 60s and suffered ill health.

Judge David Hatton QC ordered a report and remanded Yusuf in custody until sentencing.

After the case, Councillor Val Slater, Bradford Council's executive member for environmental health, said it had been a long and complex investigation, with computers, mobile phones and documents seized which linked the defendant to illegally operating food businesses.

She said: "Bradford Council is determined to try to stamp out food crime and illegal food businesses flouting the law by operating without the required standards of inspection, registration and food hygiene in place.

"We will not allow criminals to put the health of the public at risk."