A Dutch man has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for his role in the horsemeat scandal.
Willy Selten, 45, was arrested in May 2013 for selling 300 tonnes of horsemeat mixed with beef which had been falsely labelled as 100% beef. This followed an inspection in February by Dutch authorities which found horse DNA is 35 out of 167 samples tested.
His conviction was for falsifying documents, forging invoices, labels and declarations and for using forged documents to sell the meat.
Selten’s two businesses were declared bankrupt in 2013.
The court in Den Bosch found that because Selten had been selling to foreign firms “he contributed to a negative image for the Dutch meat industry and damaged the sector’s interests”.
At the end of his trial in March, Selten said: "Mistakes were made in our bookkeeping. I am not the big horsemeat swindler they're all looking for. I was careless with my administration, but not intentionally."
He was reported to be “upset and surprised” by the outcome and will decide if he will appeal.
The horsemeat scandal erupted in the UK and Ireland in January 2013 when horse DNA was identified in frozen burgers being sold by several supermarkets. The subsequent recall of 50,000 tonnes of meat products across Europe was one of Europe’s largest food scandals.
