Stephen Akuoko, a 62-year-old businessman based in the United Kingdom, has been jailed for two years.
The UK-based Ghanaian was jailed for breaching food hygiene regulations and was banned for five years from operating any food business.
Stephen Akuoko was further fined by the court at a cost of £2,500.
Reports suggest that Akuoko, who supplies ready meals to supermarkets and corner shops, was found storing mackerel in his bathroom, both in the bathtub and on the floor next to the toilet at his flat.
The Telegraph, in a publication, detailed that Stephen Akuoko has been operating in Watford, Hertfordshire, under the name Tribal Foods for more than three years.
According to reports, Akuoko had been under investigation by the council’s environmental health team and was caught red-handed when Firefighters responding to a fire outbreak after a wok he was using burst into flames, discovering large quantities of fish, including some stored on the bathroom floor near the toilet.
Akuoko pleaded guilty to two food safety offences at St Albans Magistrates’ Court on February 11, 2026 and was later sentenced at St Albans Crown Court on Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Judge Francis Sheridan, delivering his judgment, stated, “Your little business got bigger than you could handle, and you resorted to frankly disgusting practices …fish on the floor of the bathroom, fish in the bathtub and then you cooked them and sold them.
“You must realise that food poisoning can have very serious consequences, even death, and if that had happened, you would be facing manslaughter charges.”
In a post on Facebook, a netizen wrote, “Stephen Akuoko, a businessman who had been supplying ready-made meals to UK supermarkets, was found to be keeping the fish he used to make the meals in a toilet.
The discovery was made by firefighters when they went to extinguish a fire at Akuoko’s house in North London. They were shocked to find fish in a bathtub and reported the matter to the police. Akuoko was consequently arrested and taken to court.
Akuoko, who is originally from Ghana, pleaded guilty to two food safety offences, as the judge blasted him for the meals that were ‘unfit for human consumption’.
The judge handed him a two-year suspended prison sentence and a five-year ban from operating any food business”.
In related news, a Ghanaian national in Columbus, Ohio, has been arrested by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
ICE, in a statement, revealed the Ghanaian man abroad was seeking immigration benefits despite his alleged past criminal offence.
According to ICE, the Ghanaian man attempted to hide a credit card fraud history and was arrested.
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services in a post on Facebook wrote, “A Ghanaian alien convicted of credit card fraud came to our Columbus, Ohio, office looking for immigration benefits.
He tried to hide his criminal past, but officers unveiled the truth. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrived to take him into custody”.
See the post below:
🚨ICYMI🇬🇧🇬🇭🚔: A Ghanaian businessman who supplied ready-made fish meals to UK supermarkets was caught storing the fish in his bathtub and on the bathroom floor next to the toilet.
— Ölele Salvador🦅🇬🇭 (@OleleSalvador) April 8, 2026
Firefighters discovered the fish while responding to a fire at Stephen Akuoko’s flat in Watford,… pic.twitter.com/XhWdUZDWML