French court sentences Deliveroo courier who refused to deliver kosher meals

A French court sentences a 19-year-old Deliveroo courier to four months in prison on discrimination charges after he refused to deliver meals from Jewish restaurants.

Two restaurant owners in the eastern city of Strasbourg filed complaints last week after alleging the courier canceled delivery orders after learning they were for “Israeli food.”

One of the owners told the court that the man said “I don’t deliver to Jews.”

“French law prohibits discrimination of any kind. You have to respect everyone in this country,” Judge Bertrand Gautier says at the trial.

He adds that the courier, an Algerian who entered France on a tourist visa that has since expired, fraudulently used an associate’s Deliveroo codes and had his proceeds transferred to the account of a third person.

The suspect was also ordered to leave the country after serving his sentence, according to a tweet by Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

Speaking via an interpreter, the courier admits to canceling the orders but denied saying he would not deliver to Jews.

The Israelite Consistory of the Bas-Rhin department had also filed a complaint against Deliveroo, which vowed to take immediate action if the allegations were confirmed.

“We are relieved by the conclusion of this inquiry, which allowed the identification of the person who carried out these hateful acts, thanks to close cooperation between Deliveroo and the police,” Melvina Sarfati El Grably, the company’s general manager for France, says in a statement.