A Ceredigion man living in Ireland has been extradited and sentenced after his involvement in illicit farming and trading of meat that was unfit for human consumption.

Robert Thomas, 45, originally from Ferwig near Cardigan, was found to be part of an organised crime group (OCG), who were involved in running an illegal meat operation, where “smokies” were being prepared for human consumption.

The production of “smokies” involves the illegal slaughter of sheep which, as part of the production process, have their fleece retained on the carcasses and burnt with blow torches to impart a smoked flavour to the meat.

This process is illegal in the UK and many European countries.

After Thomas and other members of the OCG prepared the meat, they personally delivered the product to customers in London, in unrefrigerated vehicles.

Investigations into the production revealed that the conditions the animals were being kept in were unsanitary, and some carcasses seized were found to be in an advanced state of decomposition, and the sheep being used were subject to an increased risk of pathological diseases and parasitic conditions.

The initial prosecution was undertaken by Ceredigion County Council in 2015, but due to Mr Thomas’ persistence in evading justice it has taken seven years for the proceedings to reach a conclusion.

The prosecution involved Thomas and another male person from Ceredigion, who is still wanted on warrant in respect of the charges.

At Swansea Crown Court in December 2015, Thomas was sentenced to a 28-week term of imprisonment, suspended for two years, and was ordered to undertake 200 hours of unpaid work. Confiscation proceedings were also ordered to try and identify and recover any assets obtained by Thomas through his illegal activities.

That confiscation investigation was undertaken by officers in the Tarian Regional Economic Crime Unit (RECU) assisted by Ceredigion County Council.

Various Proceeds of Crime Act hearings took place, during which Thomas gave evidence on oath that his assets and income were minimal.

He declared that he had two old cars and was earning just £40 per week working for his parents.

He also claimed he had two UK bank accounts with no money in them and produced bank statements to prove so.

Over the course of three years, Thomas persistently denied having any more than this, and in April 2017 he failed to appear at court.

A letter was produced that claimed to be from a doctor at a hospital in Tanzania, stating that Thomas had been in an accident and was unable to travel, meaning he couldn’t attend court. Suspicious of this, Tarian immediately issued a warrant for his arrest.

Further investigations by the RECU team revealed that Thomas had in fact two more UK bank accounts which he failed to disclose, and another bank account in Ireland, which he had transferred £40,000 to.

It was also found that he had never been a patient at the hospital in Tanzania and the letter was fake.

A European Arrest Warrant was subsequently obtained and he was finally located in County Mayo and arrested in December 2021 by the Irish authorities and extradited to the UK.

On Monday, 13 June this year, Thomas appeared in Bristol Crown Court having previously entered a guilty plea to a charge of perjury.

At sentencing, His Honour Judge Cullen described Thomas’ actions as ‘a considered lie and a practiced lie’.

He also said that giving sworn evidence to a judge was a serious matter which could only be dealt with by an immediate imprisonment and requires a significant custodial sentence.

Thomas was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment for perjury and for breach of a Community Order he was sentenced to two months imprisonment to run consecutively, making a total of 24 months imprisonment.