A shellfish gatherer from Dorset has narrowly escaped being jailed after being caught illegally selling clams to wholesalers who supply high-end restaurants.

Richard Carlyle, from Portland, was given an 11-month jail sentence suspended for two years and banned from taking part in any shellfish business.

The 74-year-old was told that his fraud involving almost £50,000 worth of clams could have led to people becoming seriously ill and was spared an immediate custodial sentence because of his poor health and because he cares for his elderly mother.

In October 2017 officers from the Southern Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority were carrying out an inspection of shellfish and found undersized manila clams accompanied by suspicious documentation.

Manilas are a favourite among chefs because of their sweet taste, their ease of opening after being steamed and their lovely shell colour.

Officers from Weymouth and Portland borough council were called and a joint investigation with Dorset county counciltrading standards service began.

They found Carlyle had been completing shellfish registration documents – which are supposed to guarantee the place of origin and thus the safety of the clams – with false information.

He claimed he was the gatherer of the manila clams and that they came from Devon. However, when interviewed he claimed that the clams were delivered overnight by unknown persons into his van. The true origin of the clams remains unclear.

Officers also found that Carlyle had used an approval mark which claimed that some of the clams had come from an approved processor. The processor had never supplied Carlyle with clams in the period concerned and again the origin of the shellfish was unknown.

Some of the clams are known to have ended up with suppliers who supply to renowned chefs. It is not known if anyone fell ill because of them.

Sentencing him at Bournemouth crown court, the judge Peter Crabtree said Carlyle had circumvented the food safety regulations for his own benefit, despite the risks to public health and to his customers, and that he had hindered the investigation by failing to disclose the true source of the clams.

Richard Herringshaw, principal trading standards officer for Dorset county council, said: “The risks to food safety from contaminants by live shellfish are well known to food businesses operating in the live shellfish industry. They have obligations to know that the live shellfish they are supplying have come from a legitimate source, that they have been processed correctly and to inform their customers of this.

“Richard Carlyle avoided food safety requirements, put consumers at risk, undermined the legitimate industry and inhibited our ability to trace the food and investigate risks to health. A large number of items were produced to make these clams appear legal to authorities and prospective purchasers. Without these documents the clams were worthless.”

Carlyle admitted two offences under the Fraud Act 2006 and one under the Food Safety and Hygiene (England) Regulations 2013. He was also subject to a hygiene prohibition order which prevents him from taking part in the shellfish business.