CONVICTED (2024) | Daniel Glancey, born 10 July 1989, of Eighth Avenue, Blyth NE24 2QE – allowed his pet Rottweiler to become severely malnourished.
Glancey admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the eight-year-old dog, known as Xena.
His cruelty came to light after Xena was found straying and picked up by an animal welfare officer from Northumberland County Council.
Xena was picked up by the local authority animal welfare officer as a stray and taken to a vet for examination. Photo credit: Northumberland Dog Rescue
Concerned about the dog’s extremely poor condition the officer took her to a vet where she was was given a low body condition score of 2/9. She weighed just 19kg and her hip bones, ribs, spine and skull were protruding through her fur. She was weak with overgrown nails and infected eyes.
Weighing just 19kg, Xena’s hip bones, ribs, spine and skull were visibly on show. She was weak, had overgrown nails and discharge to her eyes. Photo credit: Northumberland Dog Rescue
Xena was traced to Dan Glancey after he and partner Katie White placed ‘missing dog’ posts on social media. In one post Glancey described Xena as being “a little underweight” due to illness.
The animal welfare officer called Glancey to discuss their concerns about Xena’s condition. He fed them a pack of lies about Xena being under the care of a local vet practice after being poisoned by fertiliser. He later admitted she hadn’t seen a vet blaming lack of money and vets said her appalling condition was simply due to a lack of proper nutrition and diet.
Glancey relinquished Xena to the animal welfare officer who placed her in the care of Northumberland Dog Rescue to be nursed back to health. Following her recovery, Zena was adopted and is loving life in her new home.
Sentencing | nine-week custodial sentence, reduced to six weeks for his early guilty plea, suspended for six months; ordered to pay a surcharge of £154 and costs of £300. Disqualified from keeping all animals for ten years.
CONVICTED (2024) |Levi Douglas Swift, born c. 2002, of Cornwall Street, Hartlepool, and Bethany Nicole Greener, née Bethany Murray, born 12 February 1989, of Hutton Avenue, Hartlepool – starved their pet lurcher.
Levi Swift and Bethany Greener caused six weeks of suffering to a lurcher. Images: Facebook
The charges brought by the RSPCA related to a six-week period between October 20 and December 1, 2023, when oddball couple Levi Swift and Bethany Greener failed to provide adequate nutrition for their brindle-coloured lurcher, Elsie.
RSPCA Inspector Claire Wilson said in a statement to the court that she went to Hutton Avenue on December 1, 2023, after a complaint was made from a member of the public about two dogs left outside the property without shelter or bedding.
One was said to be very thin and the caller described her as being “close to death”.
The inspector said: “It was immediately obvious that Elsie was in extremely poor body condition and emaciated.
“I could see all her bones protruding through her rough coat and could see her full spine, ribs, pelvic bones and shoulder bones without putting my hands on her.
“When I did stroke her the bones were spiky to touch and she hardly had any muscle visible. She also had hair loss along her spine.”
Greener told the inspector the dog belonged to her partner and they had rescued her two months earlier when she claimed she was in a “much worse condition with very little fur and struggling to stand”.
The inspector added: “She (Greener) then said that she couldn’t afford to take the dogs to a vet as she only had £5 left from benefits at the end of the month once her bills came out.”
The couple consented for the inspector to take Elsie to a vets where she received treatment and she was later transferred to private boarding kennels used by the RSPCA. A vet expert report stated that Elsie would have been suffering for at least six weeks because she was in an emaciated state.
Swift and Greener pleaded guilty to the charges.
Elsie gained weight in the RSPCA’s care
The court ordered the permanent removal of Elsie from the pair.
Following two weeks in RSPCA care, the brindle-coloured lurcher put on more than 3kg in weight and made a good recovery.
Sentencing | Swift was ordered to pay a total of £337 while Greener is to pay £257, with the financial penalties to be deducted from benefits. Both were banned from owning, keeping, or having any control over animals for ten years.
CONVICTED (2024) | Alyshia Diana Taylor, born c. 1999, of Keene Avenue, Rogerstone, Newport NP10 8DF – for the abandonment of two dogs and a puppy with only the latter surviving.
Taylor pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
Two of the counts related to “failing to provide a suitable diet for two dogs, a bull breed type named Dior and a Chow Chow type called Storm”.
The third charge related to a Chow Chow puppy called Chase in that she was responsible for “an environment that was unsuitable in diet and in the providing of adequate clean fresh drinking water”.
The court heard how the emaciated body of Dior was found in a kennel at Taylor’s then home in Cromwell Road Newport. Post-mortem examination found she had wood particles in her stomach which she had eaten in her desperation for food.
Storm was still alive but in an emaciated state. She and the puppy, who was described as thin, were found in the faeces-strewn property.
The RSPCA was alerted on January 30, 2023, after receiving a call from police regarding two dogs they had removed from the property and taken to a vet for examination and treatment. The charity was also advised that there was a dead dog at the scene.
In a written statement provided to the court RSPCA inspector Sophie Daniels said: “I established that of the two dogs removed, both of which were black Chow Chows, the adult female was in an emaciated condition and had been deemed to be in a suffering state by the vet Her male puppy was found to be thin and as such not having his needs met.”
Arriving at Taylor’s home to collect the body of the dead dog Inspector Daniels said: “There were toys and belongings cluttering the floor and there was a strong smell of dog. I walked through to a back room with lots of clutter left around.
“On the table, amongst other items, I saw an empty box of Bakers dog food and on the floor by the sofa, was an unopened sack of dry dog food.
“The kitchen was at the back of the property and was filthy with dog faeces all over the floor. The faeces was particularly concentrated by the back patio doors. There was a plastic dog bed on the floor by the back doors, which contained a dirty blanket. There were some plastic takeaway containers on the floor with a drop of water contained.”
Storm gained weight in the RSPCA’s care but was later put to sleep after she was found to have a debilitating condition
Outside in an enclosure furthest away from the house there were piles of dog faeces, a tipped over empty bucket and two silver dog bowls containing a small amount of brown/yellow dirty liquid. Dior’s body was found in a wooden open-fronted kennel in the back corner of the enclosure.
Inspector Daniels said: “The dog was laying on its left side on dirty bedding and there was an extremely strong smell of decay.
“The body was extremely thin with ribs visible. The eyes were sunken and there was dark/bloody liquid coming from the dog’s mouth and nose.”
As Inspector Daniels removed the body, large maggots – some over one centimetres in length – fell from the body.
Dior, who was nearly three years old, was examined by a vet, who said in a witness statement that her body was “emaciated with very little muscle mass remaining on her body.”
Commenting on the findings of the post mortem, the vet said: “The report showed that she had two bruises on her neck, wood throughout her guts and had died due to necrosis (or cell death) of multiple areas of her heart, the cause for the necrosis was not able to be determined.
“However the other changes of muscle mass loss, and severe loss of fat throughout the body indicates a severe energy imbalance or lack of food prior to her death.
“With her body at the lowest end of body condition score at one out of nine, this means that if she had had no food at all and just access to water, to get to the condition she was found in from a normal condition would have taken between two to three weeks of starvation, longer if she had access to food in that time.
“It is my professional opinion that Dior was allowed to suffer unnecessarily by her owner/carer from hunger due to lack of feeding over a prolonged period of time.”
Sentencing Taylor, magistrates said there was “a real prospect of rehabilitation” and suspended the custodial term.
Sadly, Storm later had to be put to sleep on veterinary advice after she was found to have a debilitating condition.
Chase was rehomed by the RSPCA.
Sentencing | 36-weeks custodial suspended for 18 months; 10 days of rehabilitation; £975 towards costs. 10-year disqualification order applicable to all animals.
CONVICTED (2024) | Paul Desbro, born September 1965, of 58 Hall Broome Gardens, Bolton Upon Dearne, Rotherham S63 8AJ – for cruelty to several sheep found starved and horrifically neglected on his smallholding.
Desbro was prosecuted by the RSPCA following an investigation into the welfare of the livestock in his care. Inspectors visited his smallholding in Mexborough Road in May 2023 following reports of a collapsed sheep.
Animal rescue officer Liz Braidley said that, when she arrived at the paddock, she found two sheep looking skinny and underweight and a third ewe collapsed against the fence.
The ewe was emaciated, with her bones clearly visible. Large sections of her fleece were missing and the skin underneath was red and sore and covered in scabs.
Her wounds were also swarmed with flies, fly eggs and maggots.
“She was trying to turn her head to groom herself and was clearly irritated by the flies around her which were relentlessly landing on her,” Ms Braidley said.
“At this point, I knew I needed further assistance so I contacted my colleagues, the police and a vet.”
Ms Braidley said she was then approached by a man claiming to be the friend of the sheep’s owner and explained that they were aware of her flystrike and had clipped some of her fleece.
However, Ms Braidley said: “…when I asked if they had contacted a vet, the man said no and stated: ‘We will have to call the knacker man tomorrow’.”
The RSPCA found the owner and the police seized three sheep. Sadly, the ewe was put to sleep by a vet to end her suffering.
RSPCA inspector, Jennie Ronksley, said: “This was a sad case involving the neglect of multiple sheep including an emaciated ewe who was so severely burdened with flystrike that her skin was absolutely crawling with maggots and clearly needed veterinary attention.”
Sentencing remarks referred to this as a “deeply concerning case” and called the photographs and video footage “disturbing”.
In mitigation, the court heard that Desbro entered an early guilty plea, that he shared the responsibility of the livestock kept on the smallholding with two other friends and was not experienced in keeping sheep so was ignorant of their welfare needs rather than malicious.
He was described as giving “well-meaning but incompetent care”. He had no previous convictions.
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 250 hours of unpaid work; £114 victim surcharge and £2,000 in costs. He was disqualified from keeping livestock for ten years and cannot appeal this for a minimum of five years. A deprivation order was also made for the two living sheep and their lambs.
CONVICTED (2024) | Zainab Ayinla, born 14 May 1986, of Loughborough Park, Stockwell, London SW9 8TP – starved a bulldog to death.
The emaciated body of the dog, known as Patch, was admitted to a veterinary hospital on December 17, 2022. He had lost an alarming 13kg since his last visit to the vet hospital, just seven months prior and his condition was described by a vet as “shocking”.
The court heard that Ayinla had contacted the vet hospital two months earlier mentioning Patch’s concerning weight loss, but failed to attend a subsequent appointment.
On December 17, Ayinla called the vet again, reporting that her pet could no longer walk and was showing signs of distress with laboured breathing and sporadic twitching.
By the time Ayinla managed to get Patch to the vet, he had already died.
Post-mortem examination revealed that Patch had 92g of plastic material in his stomach, pointing to extreme hunger.
It was concluded the direct cause of death was severe malnutrition. There was no underlying cause; he was able to eat but had no access to food.
The vet said: “His condition at presentation was shocking: he was significantly underweight with an accountable weight loss of 13kg in the past seven months since the last time he was seen at the hospital in May 2022, with very long nails and bed sores and urine scalding.
“Considering Patch’s presentation on the 17 December and the missed appointment in November, is it my professional opinion that Patch went through a significant period of suffering until the time of his death.
“Would the owner have him brought to us sooner and probably we would have been able to help him, whether from a medical point of view or supporting the owner in providing care for her pet.”
Ayinla’s defence was that she “had done everything she could for the dog”, having sought advice about worming and Patch’s weight loss, yet there was no corresponding record of this in Patch’s vet hospital documentation.
RSPCA inspector Philip Norman, who investigated for the animal welfare charity, said: “Animals are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met. Providing food and water is an essential.
“Owning an animal is a privilege – and ensuring appropriate care is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them.
“It’s sad that, in this instance, the owner of Patch failed to provide him with a suitable diet and as a result allowed him to suffer for a prolonged period of time.”
Sentencing | fined £300 and ordered to pay £800 in court costs. 10-year ban on keeping dogs.
CONVICTED (2024) | petting farm owners Alan Riley, born c. 1970, and Sarah Nethercoat, born 14 July 1989, of Park Avenue, Beverley HU17 7AT – neglected a donkey and pony until they became so unwell they had to be put down.
Melody, a 30-year-old pony, and Maggie, a 15-year-old grey donkey, were among the animals neglected by Alan Riley and Sarah Nethercoat, owners of Aroha Donkeys rescue centre and sanctuary, at Ashfield Farm in Wilfholme, between Beverley and Driffield. Both were so emaciated and distressed that vets had no option but to euthanise them.
In court the couple admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animals in 2021.
Aroha Donkeys was run as a business, which initially cared for donkeys used in beach rides but expanded to become a breeding and training centre. A total of 20 donkeys were kept at the centre as well as goats and ponies.
The RSPCA first became involved with the couple in July 2019, when a welfare officer advised them to provide the donkeys with shelter. Riley and Nethercoat insisted that a hedge in the field provided sufficient shelter for the animals. They also claimed that the donkeys received regular hoof and dental care.
The RSPCA issued them with a non-statutory improvement notice. Follow-up attempts to contact the pair were unsuccessful.
On a subsequent visit, officers found dirty bedding full of faeces. A shelter was too small for the number of animals using the centre.
In November 2021, RSPCA inspectors Tom Hutton and Alice Wilson along with staff from the Donkey Sanctuary charity, paid a visit to Ashfield Farm where they found around 25 horses and donkeys, owned by the pair, living in poor conditions in a field and barn.
Inspectors found poor quality fencing. A shelter area was made of corrugated iron, which was described as “rusty and dangerous”,
Inspector Hutton said in a statement presented to the court that there were concerns for the health of four animals, in particular Maggie and Melody.
“There were around 23 equines in a large paddock and an open barn with a thick straw bedding with excessive faeces inside,” said the inspector.
“As I walked around the field, there were several hazards littering the perimeter, including bits of loose wire, fallen fencing and loose fence posts.
“One small pony was extremely underweight as it walked across the field towards us with her head down. Her ribs and hip bones were excessively prominent.”
“The owners said they were providing feed. But there was now evidence the animals were in a sub-optimal condition,” he added.
Elderly pony Melody (pictured) was suffering with two large wounds and one small one to her side. These had been left untreated for weeks if not months
Vet Suzanne Green attended the scene and found Melody in a weak, thin and lethargic state, with a wound to the side shoulder and a second large wound on one of her thighs.
They were inflamed and bleeding and in the vet’s expert opinion they had been left untreated for weeks, if not months.
Nethercoat told the vet that the wound had been treated for about six months with antibiotics. No evidence was provided to substantiate the treatment.
Melody and Maggie and the two other horses were removed from the field, with Melody later transferred to an equine hospital for treatment.
Prosecutor Phil Brown told the court: “Melody needed urgent treatment for overgrown hooves as there had been a lack of hoof care. There was pain and suffering.
“Euthanasia was the only way to ease the suffering,
“They also found ulcerations to the mouth which had made eating difficult.”
Pregnant donkey Maggie required urgent treatment to her hooves. X-rays taken later showed that the failure to provide hoof care had caused malformed bone structures within her feet and osteoarthritis.
She had bonded with another donkey who was earlier found dead in a field.
Maggie gave birth before she too was put down in February 2024.
Riley’s lawyer, Matthew Moore-Taylor, told the court his client had an acute bowel condition, which caused a serious reduction in his weight. Before 2021, all the animals in the centre were in good condition, he added.
For Nethercoat, Sheila Whitehead said: “She needed more help than she admitted. People came to her with wild animals for care. She has always allowed the animals to come to her irrespective of the condition they were in..”
The pony was old. so certain treatments could not be done, Miss Whitehead said. “She was very upset it had got to the level that it had.
“She is remorseful that it got to the position that it had,” she added.
It was claimed that any money raised at the donkey sanctuary was ploughed back into the centre for feed and care.
Sentencing the pair, Recorder MacDonald KC said he had read testimonials highlighting their care for animals.
“But you don’t have to be an expert to see that the pony had three significant injuries, ribs sticking out and was malnourished and you could see it needed veterinary treatment,” he added.
“It is perfectly clear to me, being a non-veterinary person, its ribs were poking out and it had a large wound on the shoulder and the thigh was bleeding. These injuries had been there for weeks or months. It was chronically mal-nourished.”
Recorder MacDonald said that he did not view the petting farm as a money-making venture. He accepted that both defendants had health problems and it was this that caused neglect of the animals, rather than a cynical disregard for the animals’ care to make money.
“These were just two of a much larger number of animals which were generally in good condition,” Recorder MacDonald added.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA inspector Tom Hutton said: “This was a clear case of neglect. Both these equines were left in appalling conditions when they needed urgent vet treatment and one sadly had to be put to sleep because she was so unwell.”
Riley, a former farmer, and Nethercoat, who worked as a riding instructor, were well-known in the area as their donkeys, many of whom were rescue animals, took part in events such as the Beverley Christmas Festival.
In 2021 they were given sudden notice to leave a smallholding between Beverley and Driffield they had been renting from a farmer and appealed for the public’s help in finding a new home.
Sentencing | six-month custodial, suspended for two years; 25 rehabilitation days. No order for costs was imposed because the petting farm was not making money. Both are disqualified from keeping donkeys, mules and equine hybrids for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2024) | serial animal abuser Pamela Mary Brown, born 7 November 1954, of 16 Browney Lane, Browney, Durham DH7 8HT – for the neglect of two horses.
Pamela Brown, a traveller and repeat offender*, has been given an 11-week curfew for causing unnecessary suffering to horses Rosealee and Topsy between January and May 2023..
She pleaded guilty to ineffective equine dentistry care, inadequate investigation, or addressing of the horses’ underweight and poor bodily conditions.
She was ordered to comply with curfew from 9pm to 7am daily at her caravan.
The order lasts until May 21, 2024, includes electronic monitoring, and allows three metres of movement for toilet visits.
She is also disqualified from dealing with horses for ten years and must pay a £114 victim services surcharge and £300 in costs, at £20 per month starting April 3.
*In February 2015 Pamela Brown was given an 18-month supervision order and five-year ban on keeping horses for neglecting one equine so severely he had to be immediately destroyed.
The unnamed horse, who was kept in a field with 12 others in Langley Moor, Durham, was underweight with an overgrown and deformed hoof. Other horses in the herd had skin diseases and lice.
Serial horse abuser Pamela Brown with daughter Louise Nicholson, aka Louise Doherty, co-defendant in the 2015 RSPCA prosecution and co-owner with husband Patrick Doherty of Doherty Stud Yard.
Speaking about the horse that was euthanised, Kevin Campbell for the RSPCA said the animal had “poor body condition .. poor feet, poor living environment and effectively it is difficult to see anything worse that could have been done to to the horse”.
Brown’s co-accused, daughter Louise Nicholson aka Louise Doherty or NickyLouise Dior Doherty, born October 1988, and also of 16 Browney Lane, was cleared of five charges of failing to ensure an animal’s welfare, relating to a pony called Tiny and another unnamed horse.
In mitigation for Pamela Brown, solicitor David Ward described her as “a very robust lady who is the matriarch …”
He added that his client “has some difficulty in reading and writing as they all seem to do, but it is unlikely that this lady will be involved in any further offending“.
In addition to the supervision order and five-year ban, Brown was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2024) | former pet shop owner Andrea Maxine Darnell aka Andrea Cooper, born 17 December 1964, of 81 Wivern Road, Hull HU9 4HR – for the starvation and neglect of several snakes all of which died.
In an RSPCA prosecution, Darnell, former owner of the Diamond Exotic pet shop in Saville Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to six snakes. The reptiles died shortly after being rescued.
The court heard that the RSPCA first visited Darnell’s shop in May 2023 after concerns were flagged about the welfare of the animals there.
RSPCA Inspector Laura Barber said: “On our initial visit, a range of worrying issues were immediately apparent. To me and my colleague, exotics expert Inspector Kim Greaves, the shop appeared very overcrowded, with various vivariums stacked on top of each other and inappropriate numbers of animals in the same, small vivariums.
“Many of them – including iguanas, snakes, bearded dragons and a Chinese water dragon – were being kept in dirty, inappropriate conditions or showed historic injuries. A rhinoceros iguana was running free, some vivariums had no substrate and a large, reticulated python was found in a too-small vivarium.
“A Chinese water dragon seemed to have a historical healing mouth issue and many of the vivariums were over-heated. We were very concerned for these animals.”
The RSPCA inspectors issued Darnell with Animal Welfare Notices setting out what was required for her to improve the conditions in the shop. They said that they would revisit to check her progress after a month.
In late June 2023, Inspector Barber and Inspector Greaves reattended the pet shop accompanied by a pet shop inspector from Hull City Council, but there was no improvement. Darnell had failed to keep feeding or care records, which was a breach of her licence conditions.
Inspectors also visited two rooms on the second floor of the premises. These were messy, cluttered and littered with rubbish.
In one room inspectors found 18 young snakes in a racking system without thermostats. Many had no water available.
Six of the snakes were in particularly poor condition. Five corn snakes and one royal python were cold to the touch, underweight and close to death. The corn snakes’ vivarium was dirty with a bad odour. It had no lighting and and the single water bowl contained very little water and wasn’t large enough to bathe in.
Darnell claimed the python had not eaten since she had acquired it but conceded she had never taken him to a vet. She confirmed she owned all six ailing snakes.
The council revoked Darnell’s pet shop licence.
The dying snakes were signed over to the RSPCA and taken to a vet for a preliminary examination. They were then put in the care of a specialist boarding facility to await further in-depth veterinary checks.
Sadly, the royal python and one of the corn snakes soon passed away. The remaining four snakes also died over the next few days.
A vet reported that all the snakes had been dehydrated and extremely emaciated with significant weight loss. They had suffered from mites and some showed suggestions of metabolic bone disease. She believed starvation and dehydration were the probable cause of death.
The vet concluded all the snakes had been caused to suffer unnecessarily in that the person responsible for their care had failed to provide appropriate nutrition, hydration, a clean environment and ability to perform normal behaviour through lack of appropriate environment, husbandry, and feeding.
RSPCA Inspector Barber said: “There was no excuse for not providing those poor snakes with their basic needs and failing to seek veterinary care for them when it was abundantly clear that they so desperately needed it.
“These were awful cases and simply shouldn’t have happened. The RSPCA urges anyone struggling to take care of their animals to ask for help, rather than neglecting them and leaving them to suffer.”
According to Companies House, the Diamond Exotic shop is now under the ownership of Luke Franklin, who is believed to be Andrea Darnell’s son-in-law.
Sentencing | 12-month community order of 250 hours of unpaid work; £400 costs and £154 victim surcharge. A confiscation order was made in relation to four tarantula spiders . 10-year ban on keeping any exotic pet.
CONVICTED (2024) | dog collector Judy Patricia Doolan, born 10 May 1959, of 12 East Ride, Brent Knoll, HighbridgeTA9 4EA – kept 16 badly neglected Romanian rescue dogs in an unattended property.
The 16 Romanian rescue dogs had reportedly been left unattended at Doolan’s home for several days while she lived elsewhere on a caravan site. Some were emaciated and had rotten teeth, dirty smelly coats, and overgrown nails.
Several were found to be extremely fear-aggressive and unsafe to handle through their lack of socialisation. Nine dogs had to be put down due to their poor state of health.
The court heard how in March 2023 RSPCA inspector Hayley Lawrence attended at Doolan’s home to investigate a report of concern about animals at the property. On looking through the letter box she could see that the property was very dirty inside with large amounts of faeces covering the floor area which she said “looked and smelled horrendous”.
Inspector Lawrence had concerns for Doolan’s wellbeing as well as for the dogs so she called her colleagues, police and a vet to attend. Dogs could be seen at the window but no food or water could be seen.
Police located Doolan at the caravan site and returned to the address where she brought the dogs out individually to the front door for them to be checked and recorded.
On examination, many of the dogs were found to have severe matting – the matts on one dog were found to weigh 2.15kg.
The vet describes observing that two rooms of the house had a large build up of faecal matter with the windows heavily soiled in faeces. Some of the dogs also had faecal soiling on their feet and coats.
In mitigation, it was said Ms Doolan had rescued dogs from Romania and had got out of her depth and had struggled with personal difficulties throughout her life.
Doolan plead guilty to two animal welfare offences. She had appealed against her sentence, which was originally imposed in October 2023.
The surviving dogs have been cared for by RSPCA and are thriving.
Speaking after the appeal hearing Inspector Lawrence said: “Our plea to all animal owners is to make sure they always receive care and treatment they need when they need it.
“Animals are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met and they are kept safe and healthy. Owning an animal is a privilege – and ensuring appropriate care is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them.”
Sentencing | fined £600. Ten-year ban on keeping dogs but may appeal after seven years.
CONVICTED (2024) | James Baker, born April 1969, Sarah Jayne Baker (aka Sarah Jayne Baker-Ryan), born December 1990, both of 4 William West Road, Par PL24 2GA and Darren Laker, born c. 1977, also from Par – starved and neglected horses, ponies, a donkey and a goat at their equine therapy centre.
Sarah Jayne Baker and husband James Baker faced multiple counts of cruelty in relation to animals in their care
In what was described as one of the worst cases of animal neglect in Cornwall’s history, married couple James and Sarah Baker and their stable hand Darren Laker admitted cruelty charges in relation to multiple animals.
Concerns were raised by a member of the public when some animals were seen malnourished and in a poor state
The Bakers ran a community interest company called Family Nest Equine Therapy, now dissolved, which ran pony parties, riding lessons and therapy for veterans. The equine centre was latterly based near Driving Lane, Par.
Darren Laker
Francesca Whebell, prosecuting, on behalf of the RSPCA, said that the Bakers were first warned to improve the living conditions for the animals in their care while they ran the charity in Holsworthy, Devon, back in 2020. When the couple sold up the land following an alleged neighbourly dispute, they moved to Par in a rush with dozens of horses, donkeys, and other animals.
Ms Whebell told the court that RSPCA inspectors visited them again at the site in Par in 2022 and continued to express strong concerns about failings in animal welfare. She said some of the animals had no shade, no shelter, mouldy hay or no food and often little to no access to water.
She said that some of the animals had untreated wounds and were lame and had to be taken to a vet for immediate treatment.
One horse was found dead in a field. Horses and other animals were emaciated, thin, and visibly malnourished.
Ms Whebell told the court that when RSPCA inspectors turned up the Bakers never took responsibility for the neglect they inflicted on the animals. The Bakers told shocked inspectors that “when you have livestock you sometimes have dead stock”.
She said: “There has been a complete disregard for animal welfare. Some of the animals had been suffering for months.”
Ramsay Quaife, defending Laker, said his client apologised for his involvement.
Sarah Baker aka Sarah Jayne Baker-Ryan or just Sarah Ryan
Sarah Baker, who was unrepresented, told the court that many of the animals had been “dumped on them”. She said when they had to uproot and move to Par, many of the owners no longer wanted them.
She said: “We tried our hardest to get these animals back to health. But we were not given a chance. It was too much hard work for us. I wish I had contacted the RSPCA much sooner.”
She told the court that Family Nest had done a lot of good over the years, providing horse therapy to both veterans, her husband being a veteran too, as well as children with special needs. The CIC had been featured on ITV South West.
Mrs Baker added: “I welcome the ban. I’m sad that it has taken this long to get to this point. We’re tired. We don’t want anything to do with horses anymore. We don’t want to go near or ride a horse ever again. The last few years have been hell for us.”
When Judge Simon Carr noted that she had not shown an ounce of remorse Sarah Baker said she was “more sorry than I could ever be. That’s why I’m so exhausted. I took every course I could to help the animals and the future of the yard. I welcome the ban. I don’t want to think of having animals in my care again. I don’t ever want to be responsible for an animal ever again.”
The Bakers, who run SJ’s Coffee House in Eastcliffe Road, Par, told the court they had no way of paying for the £77,000 the prosecution was asking for the care of the animals, as well as legal fees, as they have no money.
Sentencing the trio, Judge Carr said it was one of the worst cases of animal neglect he had seen.
“They would have been in agony, not only from wounds but also malnutrition,” he said.
“There is no excuse for what you both did.”
Sentencing |
The Bakers were jailed for nine months for each count, suspended for two years. Disqualified from owning any animal for life.
Laker was given a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for two years. Disqualified from owning an equine for 10 years.
