CONVICTED (2024) | livestock transporter Jonathan Botterill, born c. 1977, of Spellowgate, Driffield YO25 – filmed picking up a pig by her ears and flipping her onto her back.
Botterill, an employee of Chris Waite Transport, pleaded guilty to using violence likely to cause unnecessary fear, injury or suffering and for using prohibited handling techniques when unloading pigs.
He was filmed on CCTV lifting a terrified pig by her ears and flipping her onto her back at Cranswick Country Foods in Preston on August 31, 2023.
The court heard Animal Health Officers from East Riding of Yorkshire Council began investigating following a referral from a vet who worked for the Food Standards Agency.
Botterill was trained in the correct methods of handling pigs and other livestock and had 20 years of experience. During an interview, he admitted it was not an appropriate handling technique and failed to use his pig board or ask for assistance.
Sentencing | ordered to pay a £670 fine, a £268 victim surcharge, and £884.94 costs.
CONVICTED (2024) | Bogdan Gruia (aka Bogdan Gruya), born 28 June 1990, of 178 Frodingham Road, Scunthorpe DN15 7NN – part of a group of men that stole a pregnant ewe from a farm, slit her throat and left her to bleed to death.
Roma gypsy Gruia, who came to the UK from Craiova in Romania, indicated a plea of guilty to aiding and abetting “a person unknown” to cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by cutting her throat and leaving her to bleed to death.
The remains of the sheep and her unborn lambs were found in an alleyway near premises in the control of Gruia, a garage owner who gave the court an alternative address of Digby Street in, Scunthorpe
The sheep had been stolen from a farm near Epworth, and subsequently slaughtered in an inhumane manner.
Gruia was found not guilty of handling stolen goods.
Three other suspects are still being sought by Humberside Police who have released images of them.
Speaking after Gruia’s conviction, PC Grant of Humberside Police’s Rural Task Force said: “This is the first conviction for an incident relating to the theft of sheep in the North Lincolnshire area since it became a local problem in 2018.
“Operation Bo Peep has been running since 2021 to tackle this issue and has, over the last three years, reduced sheep theft by 80%.
“I hope this conviction gives the farming community confidence that the police take this matter seriously and will bring offenders to justice.
“Three suspects for this incident are still outstanding, so I appeal to the public again to identify them.
“Anyone who believes they can identify the outstanding suspects can call Humberside Police on 101 and quote investigation reference 22901960470. Alternatively contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Sentencing | fined £769, ordered to pay a £308 victim services surcharge and £85 in costs to the Crown Prosecution Service.
CONVICTED (2024) | farmer Aeneas Carragher, born c. 1964, of 85 Skerriff Road, Cullyhanna, Newry BT35 0JW, and animal transporter Wayne Smyth, born c. 1988, of Annvale Gardens, Keady, Armagh BT60 2RS – for the callous disregard for the suffering of a dying dairy cow.
Cruel farmer Aeneas Carragher
On Monday, March 11, 2024, Aeneas Carragher was convicted of one charge of causing an animal to be transported that was not fit for the journey. Carragher was fined £500 plus £15 offender levy.
Wayne Smyth was convicted of one charge of transporting an animal that was not fit for the journey. Smyth was fined £500 plus £15 offender levy.
The case arose on February 13, 2023, when a DAERA Official Veterinarian (OV), at an abattoir, examined an animal that was presented by Smyth on behalf of Carragher.
The cow was very thin and shivering. A lairage worker attempted to make the cow walk, but the animal immediately fell in the pen.
The OV carried out an ante-mortem examination of the recumbent cow. The animal was emaciated with prominent transverse and dorsal spinal processes, and the OV estimated that the animal had a body condition score of “1” or less.
The animal was humanely destroyed, where she lay, to avoid any further suffering.
The OV’s professional opinion was that this cow was too thin and weak to have been transported and was caused unnecessary suffering by this action.
CONVICTED (2023) | Michael Thorpe, born c. 1972, of The Hen House, 42 Sconce Road, Articlave, Coleraine BT51 4JT – caused distress and suffering to a hen.
AirBnB host Michael Thorpe was convicted of one charge of causing “avoidable pain, distress or suffering” to an animal, a hen, at the time of killing.
Thorpe, who hails from the French city of Lyon, was also convicted of one charge of engaging in the restraint, stunning or killing of an animal without having the knowledge or skill necessary to perform those operations “humanely and efficiently”.
Finally he was charged with failing to hold a carcass that had not been slaughtered for human consumption in such a manner as to ensure that any animal or bird would not have access to it.
Thorpe pleaded guilty, and the judge ordered him to pay a £450 fine in addition to a £15 offender levy.
CONVICTED (2023) | Derek Arthur Whittall, born August 1965, of Oaklands Farm, Weston-Under-Redcastle, Prees, Shrewsbury SY4 5LR – allowed his staff to kick, push and abuse calves at a livestock centre.
Whittall, co-director with wife Mandy Whittall, of Oaklands Livestock Centre Ltd, pleaded guilty to all six charges brought against him.
He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a bovine calf whilst it was being unloaded from a trailer. He also admitted being responsible for two different people who repeatedly kicked, aggressively pushed or threw calves down a ramp whilst they were being unloaded from a trailer
In April 2021, undercover footage from animal rights organisation Animal Justice Project was released which showed animals being thrown down trailer ramps; kicked; pushed; dragged by their ears – and the charity said, being deprived of food and water for long periods.
Some of the calves came from farms contracted to the dairy giant Müller, whose headquarters are located nearby in Market Drayton. Müller released a statement saying that it had instructed farmers to cease supplying the centre with immediate effect.
The court documents also showed Whittall indicated pleas of guilty to removing ear tags from cattle without permission.
All of the charges Derek faced related to incidents that took place on October 10 and 11, 2020. The solicitor for Animal Justice Project said Shropshire Council pursued the charges against Whittall that resulted in a conviction.
A Shropshire Council spokesperson said Oaklands Livestock Centre Ltd is no longer in operation as a company.
Claire Palmer, director of Animal Justice Project, said: “The seriousness of Derek’s crimes cannot be overestimated.
“Not just the removing and inserting of the ear tags in the ears of calves – at a time when farmers are grappling with a Tuberculosis (TB) crisis – but allowing the abuse of calves on his holding. Our cameras showed vulnerable calves at Oaklands Livestock Centre, just a few days old, being treated like trash apparently because they were destined for the abattoir.
“This is indefensible and the sad, everyday, reality for so many farmed animals in this country. Consumers need to be aware so they can make informed food choices as, ultimately, the buck stops with them.”
Edie Bowles, Solicitor for Advocates for Animals said: “Following a hard-hitting undercover investigation by our client, Animal Justice Project, we are delighted that Shropshire Council pursued charges which resulted in a conviction, including a five-year disqualification order from keeping bovine animals. A recent report by The Animal Law Foundation revealed a systemic problem with violations of animal legal protections for farmed animals going unenforced.
“Shropshire Council’s decision to pursue this case should therefore be celebrated and we hope that more local authorities will follow this example and do more to protect farmed animals in future.”
Sentencing | 18-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days; ordered to pay the prosecution costs of £11,855.34 within 12 months. Disqualified for a period of five years from owning or keeping bovine animals (expires April 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | John Edward Pritchard, born c. 1975, of Enham Green, Shaftesbury – caused unnecessary suffering to a group of young calves on their way to a slaughterhouse.
Livestock haulier Pritchard was in charge of transporting 35 calves on a two-hour journey from a farm in Sherborne, Dorset, to an abattoir in Wiltshire.
However, his double-decked livestock trailer was only designed to carry sheep when both decks were in use, because there was insufficient headroom on the lower deck for calves to stand.
When he arrived, the calves were unloaded by a member of staff who immediately noticed that the animals on the lower deck had injuries to their backs where they had bumped against the roof supports of the upper deck during the journey.
Many of the calves suffered injuries when they stumbled and fell down the trailer ramp which was twice as steep as it should be
Some of these injuries were up to 10cm long and an examination of the carcasses after slaughter revealed deep bruising.
The official vet at the slaughterhouse examined the calves and concluded that they had been caused unnecessary suffering.
CCTV footage of the calves being unloaded was shown to the court and this also revealed that the ramp angle for the upper deck was far too steep for calves to safely walk down.
The maximum permitted angle for such a ramp is 20 degrees but Pritchard’s was more than 40 degrees, with the CCTV showing the calves stumbling and falling down the ramp.
The court heard that to transport the calves safely and legally, Pritchard should have only used the lower deck on the trailer with the upper deck folded away.
This would have meant doing two journeys to the slaughterhouse but instead it was deemed he decided to put profit before animal welfare.
The prosecution was brought by Dorset Council following an investigation by its Trading Standards team.
Sentencing | 18-month conditional discharge; prosecution costs of £6,495 plus a £22 court surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | Janusz Artur Wadzinski, born c. 1993, of Dykeside Cottages, Birnie, Elgin IV30 8SU – repeatedly ran over a pig with a quad bike before beating her with a four-foot stick.
Farmworker Janusz Wadzinski rode a quad bike over a screaming sow around six times during his employment with Karro Foods. Image source: Press & Journal
Farm worker Janusz Wadzinski was found guilty of causing an animal unnecessary suffering after witnesses saw him repeatedly run over a screaming sow with a quad bike before thrashing her with a long stick.
The court heard how Polish national Wadzinski had been working for Karro Food Group at Clackmarras Farm, Longmorn, Elgin for six years.
On March 20 2020, he was seen chasing a single pig on his quad, striking her hind legs with the bike until she fell and then running the quad up onto her her back before rolling off of her.
A mother and daughter out walking their dogs saw him do this at least six times and the elder of the women went on to watch in horror as he then “whacked” the pig repeatedly with a long stick.
Witness Claire Hendry told the court: “He was driving up behind her, knocked her back legs to knock her down and as she fell he was rolling up on her back and rolling off again.
“He repeated this more than six times. He was shouting but we didn’t understand as it was in Polish.
“There was a lot of shouting and swearing. We are animal lovers so it was horrific, absolutely horrific the way he was coming for her. I was a state.”
As Mrs Hendry ran down the field towards Wadzinski she saw the pig being herded into a hay bale enclosure where she was further abused.
“I will never forget that white stick,” she said. “It was three-four feet long. He picked it up and he was beating and beating her. Every time you heard a whack there was a squeal.
“This is a man who is meant to be in charge of these animals’ welfare and this is what he was doing to her.
“The pig was traumatised and squealing. I was screaming and shouting ‘oi’ at him and he eventually stopped and came over.
“He folded his arms and just said ‘what’.”
When the woman told Wadzinski he shouldn’t be chasing and striking the animal, he replied: “She not do as she’s told”.
When she said that was no excuse for his behaviour, he replied: “I go now and I kill her. I can because I work here.”
Lauren Hendry also witnessed the quad bike incident and told the court it left her in tears.
After briefly returning home she was so “shocked and disgusted” that she went back to the farm and spoke to a farm manager, who told her: “I will have a word with him”.
“I felt like I wasn’t being believed,” she added.
Wadzinski was also seen repeatedly striking the animal with a four-foot stick. Image source: Press & Journal
Taking to the stand himself, Wadzinksi told his defence lawyer Iain Maltman he continues to be employed at the farm but for the last six months has worked as a maintenance man rather than with the pigs.
He denied being on the quad behind the pig, denied hitting her with a stick and suggested he and his colleague worked side-by-side permanently to move the pigs from one paddock to another.
When the sow wouldn’t go, he claimed he was told to get a trailer to move her and that the incidents of abuse simply never happened.
He told Mr Maltman: “I didn’t say I would kill the pig. I said she was causing problems and most likely she would have to be shot.”
He claimed he said that in response to racist remarks being made towards him by Mrs Hendry and retaliated because he was “upset and tired”.
Karro’s breeding herd manager Cameron Fordyce, 53, assured the court Wadzinksi had no authority or means of killing any pigs and said having inspected the animal himself he saw no signs of injury.
However, Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood delivered his verdict immediately, rejecting the evidence of defence witnesses.
“In relation to charge one, I have no doubts you are guilty as libelled,” he told Wadzinksi.
He fined Wadzinksi, who lives in work-provided accommodation at Dykeside Cottages, Birnie, Elgin, £500 and banned him from keeping or working with animals for just one year.
A spokesman for the company Karro Food Limited (formerly Grampian Country Pork) told the Press and Journal that “appropriate action will be taken” following the verdict.
He said: “As a responsible employer, Karro Food Limited ensures high welfare standards of pigs on our own farms and throughout our supply chain.
“We do not condone or tolerate animal cruelty in any form.
“We note the court’s guilty verdict in relation to Janusz Wadzinski’s treatment of the animal in question and appropriate action will be taken.”
Mr Maltman said this ban could mean the end of Wadzinski’s employment.
Sentencing | fined £500. One-year ban on keeping or working with animals.
Following Janusz Wadzinski’s conviction for pig cruelty, several local people took to Facebook to contradict Karo Food’s claims that they take animal welfare seriously and won’t “tolerate animal cruelty in any form”.
One stated: “Karro’s farms all over are terribly kept .. I used to work with a contractor that went in to clean all the bedding from under where the huts was and I constantly found dead piglets just left … to rot”.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial animal abuser and owner of a notorious “horror farm’ Sean Ronald Burns, born 15/08/1970, of Rosehill Lodge, Bramble Hall Farm, Ferry Lane, Pembroke SA71 4RG – breached an indefinite ban imposed for cruelty to 200 animals and the operation of an illegal slaughterhouse.
Menace Sean Burns, pictured during his court appearance in 2020, has subjected countless farm animals and domestic pets to appalling living conditions and shocking prolonged neglect
Police and officials from Pembrokeshire County Council visited Bramble Hall Farm on February 7, 2022, and discovered 12 dogs, two love birds and a tortoise on the premises. Living conditions were grim and three of the animals were seriously ill.
Two rooms housing dogs were full of faeces and the animals’ bedding was soaked in urine.
Three of the dogs needed immediate veterinary attention. A small Jack Russell puppy had lacerations and was lethargic and recumbent. The puppy was given antibiotics and put on a drip at a local vet.
A female Yorkshire terrier had long-standing dental neglect and a fracture to her jaw while a male French bulldog had chronic skin disease.
The tortoise was also found to be without adequate bedding and had no greens.
More than 200 animals, including goats, pigs sheep and horses were removed from Bramble Hall Farm in 2019 in an operation involving police, Pembrokeshire County Council, Dogs Trust and the RSPCA.
The following September Burns was made the subject of a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, for his part in the production of smokies at the farm.
The court heard how Burns had initially denied breaching the ban, stating that he had nothing to do with the running of the farm.
However, on the day of trial he changed his plea to guilty on the basis that he had become involved in the day to day ‘care’ of the animals due to his mother Pam Burns’ ill health. He said he accepted that he should have notified the authorities of this.
In his defence it was said that the animals were at the home address and that Burns had become involved with them due to his mother’s health issues.
There had been no further offending since the end of the suspended sentence and that many of the animals seized last year were not in poor health.
Burns appeared in court in a wheelchair and his defence solicitor said that he was on a number of medications for health conditions.
Judge His Honour PH Thomas KC said that there were aggravating factors in the case, namely that Burns had convictions for ‘broadly similar matters’ in January 2018, September and October 2019 and January 2020. Burns had also received warnings and professional advice on these matters in the past.
He said that he had taken on board arguments about Burn’s health. However, he said that he had some scepticism as no medical evidence had been produced.
Sentencing | eight months in prison, four of which will be spent in custody, the other four on licence. Existing disqualification order redrafted to include ‘owning, keeping, participating in the keeping or being party to arrangements with animals to control or influence their keeping’. Burns may appeal after ten years.
CONVICTED (2023) | repeat offender Nigel John Foster, born May 1967, of 6 Whiterock Road, Killinchy, Newtownards BT23 6PR – for cruelty to pigs found in appalling conditions.
Nigel Foster, who owns a farm in Drumcaw Road, Clough, Downpatrick, admitted 10 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and one charge of failing to dispose of animal carcasses in November 2019.
The court heard that inspectors found approximately 70 animals on the farm. Some were dead, others were “profoundly emaciated” and three were in such bad condition that they had to be euthanised.
Some of the live animals were feeding on the carcases of the dead pigs. Many of the pigs had no access to food while others were being fed flour. None of the animals, which were kept in pens, had access to bedding material or dry, lined areas.
Leaking pipes meant there was a build-up of water faeces.
When Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) inspectors contacted Foster, he claimed the animals were suffering from disease so he couldn’t sell them for fear of it spreading.
Foster further claimed to the inspectors that the pigs were under veterinary treatment.
Foster was ordered to dispose of the carcasses but they were still there a week later when inspectors returned.
The court was told that Foster was suffering from a broken left foot at the time of the latest offences, and told inspectors he had “made alternative arrangements” for the animals’ care.
During an earlier hearing the court heard that Nigel Foster was a declared bankrupt and he and his wife were facing having their home repossessed.
Imprisoning Foster, Judge Gordon Kerr KC said the offences amounted to a “very bad case” of animal suffering.
“The scene, as described, is absolutely appalling. No animals should be kept in this condition and there is no excuse for this type of behaviour,” said the judge, revealing that it was the third time Foster had been in court for animal welfare offences.
Sentencing | jailed for seven and a half months with the same period on licence; compensation order for £7,500. Banned from keeping animals for seven years (expires 2030).
In December 2006 Nigel Foster received a two-month suspended sentence and was fined £1,400 after he was convicted over cruelty to sows and piglets.
He was banned from keeping livestock for two years and received a two-month custodial sentence, suspended for two years.
Foster was convicted of permitting unnecessary suffering to a sow and permitting unnecessary pain or distress to five piglets.
He was also convicted on three counts of failing to provide access to an adequate water supply, two of failing to provide access to a well-maintained lying area with dry bedding and one count of failing to provide pigs with a wholesome diet.
CONVICTED (2022) | pig farmers Alan Elvidge, born August 1978, of Flat House Farm, Peatling Parva Road, Gilmorton, Lutterworth LE17 5NR and Rachel Elvidge, born April 1970, of Parsons Barn Farm, Ullesthorpe Road, Gilmorton, Lutterworth LE17 5PD
Alan Elvidge
Siblings Alan and Rachel Elvidge, co-directors of Elvidge Farms Limited, pleaded guilty to breaching the Animal Welfare Act and were fined £4,500..
The case against the pair was brought by Leicestershire Trading Standards over the care of pigs at Flat House Farm in Gilmorton, near Lutterworth, which was reportedly operated by their late father, Richard Elvidge, alone.
The pair were prosecuted following inspections at the farm in September 2020. All but one of the original 66 charges were dropped after Richard Elvidge died, however. The court heard that he had been the only operative at the farm during the time of the investigation.
In 2020, Flat House Farm, which was home to around 8,000 pigs and 800 breeding sows,, was the subject of an undercover investigation by animal rights group Viva! Campaigns. The animal welfare group released footage showing “barbaric conditions” at the farm.
Over a four month period, the campaigners placed hidden cameras in sheds at the farm whose meat carried the Red Tractor logo – assuring consumers it is “traceable, safe to eat and has been produced responsibly”..
During the investigation Viva! unearthed a catalogue of neglect and abuse, including “sick and dying animals left to suffer” and “rotting corpses and emaciated pigs”.
Viva! has also claimed that some allegedly neglected animals even resorted to cannibalism.
Feral cats are seen on the footage feeding on “weak and dead” piglets, and workers can be seen apparently “aggressively abusing” animals.
A spokeswoman for the campaign group said: “The team discovered animals had a range of serious ailments causing acute pain – including bleeding hernias, deformed trotters, prolapses, rectal strictures and pot bellies.
“Other animals were covered in lacerations and grotesque bites, injuries inflicted on them by other pigs who are driven to insanity by the barren environment.
“Our director filmed young animals left to die in cells, writhing in pain with their eyes rolling in their socket.”
She added: “Across the farm dead and dying animals had been pulled into the walkways and left to rot – a serious violation of the Government’s guidance on how to handle fallen stock.
“There were jaw bones and bodies piled up left in various locations across the site, which goes against Government guidelines.
“One particularly sick animal, who was severely bloated, had been left in the walkway, with no access to food or water, other than that that was dripping down the walls during a rainy evening.
“This is in clear breach of UK government guidelines.”
Viva! said evidence of biting among the pigs was widespread on the farm, with alleged acute malnutrition indicating a “lack of adequate veterinary care” and “unnecessary suffering” for the animals.
The spokeswoman said: “One of the most distressing scenes shows a farm worker ‘knocking’ young piglets – killing them by slamming their tiny heads onto the metal bars of their mother’s metal cage – a brutally cruel act.
“Dismembered body parts were found on every visit, as well as numerous dead piglets alongside confined sows. Hidden camera footage from the crates captured cats picking off sick piglets, eating them alive and dragging their limp bodies into the walkways to feast.
“These practices are in complete violation of the Government’s guidance on how to handle ‘fallen stock’.”
Juliet Gellatley, Viva!’s founder and director, claimed the treatment of animals at the farm was “appalling”.
Viva! subsequently submitted the footage to the RSPCA, Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards, and Red Tractor.
The farm was then placed under investigation by Trading Standards, with Red Tractor also removing Elvidge Farms Ltd from its scheme and launching its own investigation.
Ultimately Viva!’s footage played no part in the court proceedings, which representatives of the charity said was “the perfect example that the law just doesn’t exist to protect farm animals”.
Another representative added: “I was horrified and I’ve been working with animals for a long, long time and you do get used to it.
“The horrors at that pig farm stayed with me for a long, long time.”
Sentencing, District Judge Nicholas Watson told the court the case had started with a large number of wide ranging charges against the company, Elvidge Farms Ltd.
These include:
Pigs being kept in unsuitable conditions
Too high a density of animals in areas
Dark and dirty conditions as well as insufficient water and stimulus
He said the charges suggested the problems had been long standing but that these had been discontinued at Crown Court because the prosecution had either failed to provide enough evidence or it was no longer in the public interest.
He sentenced Elvidge Farms Ltd to pay a £4,500 fine, along with a maximum surcharge of £181 within three months. A 10% discount was awarded due to the company’s guilty plea. As it was Elvidge Farms Ltd that pleaded guilty – and a company cannot go to prison or be disqualified from rearing animals – no jail time or community service was given.
The court heard that Elvidge Farms Ltd had once enjoyed an annual turnover of £1 million, but now no longer trade as a pig farm business as they have no money.
The siblings left court today by a back entrance to avoid reporters,
The Elvidges have been told they have three months to pay the fine.
