The owner of a popular Greek restaurant has been hit with a hefty fine after health authorities discovered dead mice and cockroaches scattered around the business.
The manager of Lambs on Lygon St in Melbourne, Stephen Yannoulidis, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday after inspectors reported “disgusting” conditions.
Melbourne City Council had received several complaints about “sightings” of mice and cockroaches at the restaurant before it sent officers to inspect it in March.
The court heard inspectors found evidence of “live pest activity” in the place where food was prepared for customers, including dead mice, cockroaches and rodent faeces.
A dead mouse was found on the floor of the service bar and rodent feces were also found in the customer service area.
Mouse and rat feces were also found in the cold storage room, near the raw onions and scattered throughout the business.
In addition to the pests, dirt and grime from food accumulated on a grill stand was found, while raw marinated meat was seen in contact with plastic water bottles.
This was just the latest failed inspection for the business after Yannoulidis was ordered to close the restaurant to rectify its health standards on March 10 last year.
The manager of Lambs on Lygon St in Melbourne (pictured) has been fined after a number of food safety breaches were detected at the restaurant.
The court heard that despite the closure notice, Yannoulidis kept his pest-infested business open and serving customers for a week.
It also defied an order to properly display signage notifying customers of the closure and health concerns.
Yannoulidis’ lawyers argued that the restaurant owner “deviated from the objective” due to personal reasons, the Covid pandemic and a lack of staff.
They added that Yannoulidis, who has owned the restaurant since 1982, would suffer financially if the dirty details were revealed.
“It’s not a perfect world, there are always pests and it’s about taking the right steps to try to mitigate and minimize the risks,” his lawyer said, according to the report. Melbourne City News.
“Even though they were involved in pest control, they were clearly not getting them involved enough; not enough was being done.”
The lawyer argued that the deceased rodent found on the premises was killed due to pest control services.
However, the eradicators failed to eliminate the pests and Yannoulidis and his staff did not detect the mouse.
The court heard that Yannoulidis will remain as boss of the restaurant, which will remain open.
Melbourne City Council inspectors found evidence of “live pest activity” at the venue where food was prepared for customers, including dead mice (pictured), cockroaches and rodent faeces.
Judge Michael Gurvich called the food safety violations “repugnant” and “simply unacceptable”.
Mr Gurvich said the matter was not an isolated incident and that previous incidents had also been recorded.
He added that the public has an interest in “ensuring that food outlets are hygienic” and are entitled to an “appropriate level of hygienic food service”.
However, the judge accepted that “the defendants have taken the matter seriously and have corrected the breaches.”
“Therefore, there are good prospects for rehabilitation.”
Yannoulidis and Lambs of Lygon St avoided conviction but were each fined $25,000 and ordered to pay $7,727.50 in court costs.