The former head chef at a Deal pub where at least 10 diners suffered food poisoning has a new job - as a chef.

Guye Dore, 46, was running the kitchen at the New Inn in the High Street when an outbreak of salmonella was reported.

And when food inspectors went to the restaurant following a complaint they discovered a dirty fridge, mould on food, out of date food and an apple crumble covered in a dirty tea towel.

Three people were taken to hospital and one kept in for a week after the incident in 2016, Canterbury Crown Court was told.

But now a judge has heard that the father-of-two has a new chef job at a restaurant in Sandwich, although he is closely supervised.

Dore, of St George's Row, Sandwich, had admitted breaching food hygiene regulations when he worked at the restaurant from May 2014 to September 2016.

At a previous hearing, he was urged to employ a lawyer but turned up again unrepresented.

He was asked by Judge Heather Norton why he hadn’t got a barrister and replied: “Because I’m a fool. I am at rock bottom... I am not making excuses for myself.

“I was really scared... 100 per cent scared. I apologise but I really don’t know what to do.”

"You put your head in the sand and you were disorganised and ignored the problems" - judge Heather Norton

The court heard how after the break-up of his marriage he began living a chaotic life.

Probation officer Linda Jaycock said Dore began working at the Deal restaurant as a barman and had no qualifications as a chef.

She said he is in debt and turned to alcohol to try to cope and now has another job as a chef “but not in any position of responsibility”, she added.

Dore received an 18 month community order, ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work for the community and pay £800 court costs.

Judge Norton told him that even if he didn’t have formal qualifications it was "blatantly obvious" that food covered in mould and fridges at the wrong temperature was wrong.

She said she had read statements from some of the suspected victims who suffered "really debilitating" illnesses.

“You put your head in the sand and you were disorganised and ignored the problems.”

Earlier this year New Inn landlady Deborah Doyle was fined almost £8,000 after admitting nine food hygiene offences when she appeared at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court.