Ian Cook launches new legal action in ‘Slug Gate’ saga after Supreme Court win

I Cook Foods is seeking a second Supreme Court trial against Greater Dandenong City Council and its staff, one week after a “bittersweet” legal win.

I Cook Foods has launched fresh legal action against Greater Dandenong City Council and its staff, personally accusing one of its health officers of “planting” a slug at its factory.

Ian Cook’s catering company is seeking a second Supreme Court trial, alleging a council worker “brought the slug onto the I Cook Foods premises and placed it on the floor of the main food preparation area” days before it was forced to shut.

The writ – obtained by the Herald Sun – accuses the council of “malicious prosecution” and claims the slug was a “key criterion” it relied upon in May 2019 when it slapped Mr Cook and his business with nearly 100 criminal charges.

This fresh development in the ‘Slug Gate’ saga comes a week after I Cook Foods won a Supreme Court battle to have the closure of the business by then-acting chief health officer Brett Sutton declared invalid.

But in a “bittersweet victory”, the company’s claim for $50m in damages was dismissed.

I Cook Foods is now suing the council and two environmental health officers, Leanne Johnson and Elizabeth Garlick, for damages.

I Cook Foods has launched fresh legal action against Greater Dandenong City Council. Picture: David Caird

Mr Cook told the Herald Sun this second case will “get to the heart of what happened”.

“The case against Sutton was about the technicality of a closure order,” he said.

“This case is about council officers, who have the same powers as police officers, planting evidence and destroying evidence.”

Mr Cook last week ran as an independent in the Mulgrave by-election, but lost to Labor who will retain the seat held by former premier Daniel Andrews.

The council launched the probe into I Cook Foods in early 2019 after it allegedly supplied a contaminated sandwich to an elderly hospital patient who later died with a Listeria infection.

Ms Johnson instructed a council worker to attend Dandenong factory on February 1 to take swabs and samples, with a preliminary report detecting listeria in corned beef obtained from a third-party supplier.

But it was when Ms Garlick was sent to inspect the premises on February 18 that I Cook Foods allege she planted the garden slug in an act of sabotage.

Mr Cook has previously cited CCTV footage showing Ms Garlick crouching for 17 seconds in the corner of the kitchen where the slug was later photographed.

He has consistently claimed his business was targeted because the council and its chief executive were stakeholders in a rival catering company called Community Chef.

A photo showing a slug in the I Cook Foods facility in Dandenong that was sent to the owners (left) compared to the original photo taken during a health inspection (right).

I Cook Foods was then shut down by Dr Sutton on February 21.

But court documents claim two University of Melbourne reports with more detailed analysis – produced on February 26 – absolved I Cook Foods from “any adverse findings regarding possible listeria presence”.

The experts could not “conclusively determine” the listeria found in the corned beef was of the same genotype which had infected the hospital patient, the writ states.

They also found the level of listeria detected in the corned beef was “safe for human consumption”.

But in May 2019, the council and Ms Johnson launched their prosecution against I Cook Foods before dropping all 96 charges relating to breaches of the Food Act months later.

“Once the lab tests came back and they realised I Cook Foods had nothing to do with the elderly woman’s death, they’d already closed us and so they needed to make my business look bad,” Mr Cook said of the prosecution.

He is accusing the council of bringing the “false charges” to provide validation or justification for the conduct of the council, Ms Johnson and Ms Garlick in the leadup to the closure.

The trio are also accused of tampering with evidence in an “unlawful endeavour to sustain the prosecution in circumstances where there was no legitimate basis for the commencement of the prosecution”.

Mr Cook says this second case will ‘get to the heart of what happened’. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“These council officers were so desperate to get a conviction against me they were willing to submit false evidence to court,” Mr Cook said.

In October 2021, a parliamentary inquiry heard another environmental health officer, Kim Rogerson, observed Ms Garlick editing a photo of the slug to remove traces of tissue paper that it had allegedly been carried in.

At the inquiry, Ms Garlick denied planting the slug and editing any photo.

The council has long denied any wrongdoing and has stood by its decision to lay charges.

Ian Cook’s lawyer George Defteros said his client was “very much looking forward to having this matter aired in court”.

“Ian has issued the proceeding in his own name alleging that the defendants acted with malice in the malicious prosecution of his company,” he said.

In July, I Cook Foods dropped legal action against the council ahead of its trial against the Department of Health, but indicated at the time the matter was not over.

In a July statement, the council said: “The fact that the claims were dropped shows that there was no substance to any of the claims made against council and its officers.”

Greater Dandenong City Council has been contacted for comment.