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) | 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) | Andrew Marwood, born 4 August 1995, of Manor Close, Kirkbymoorside YO62 6EP and Lee Pearcy of The Mile, Pocklington, York YO42 – for sickening violence towards a terrified pig.
Andrew Marwood kept his job with the unnamed pig production company despite being filmed assaulting a helpless pig
Marwood and Pearcy, employees of an unnamed Holderness pig production company, were fined for animal welfare offences.
Driver Marwood and fieldsman Pearcy pleaded guilty to offences under animal transport legislation for using violence likely to cause unnecessary fear, injury or suffering and for using prohibited handling techniques when loading pigs for transport.
The court heard how animal health officers from East Riding Council undertook an investigation after video footage of pigs being loaded onto a lorry at a farm in Wyton, Holderness, on April 24, 2023, was received from a member of the public.
The video showed Marwood lifting a pig, who was reluctant to load, by the tail and hitting her with a pig board (a board used to guide pigs when moving them). When the pig still refused to load onto the lorry, she was then hit on multiple occasions with a pig board by Pearcy.
The investigation found the pig company had apparently provided extensive training on the correct methods for handling and moving pigs.
Following internal disciplinary hearings, Pearcy was dismissed while Marwood was transferred into a driving role which does not involve handling livestock.
Sentencing | Marwood was fined £480 and £800 costs with a £192 victim surcharge and Pearcy was fined £384 and £800 costs with a £154 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | Daniel Mark Hoskin, born 21 April 1988, of Rose Terrace, St Anns Chapel, Gunnislake PL18 9HT – starved animals on his farm and left them in severe pain.
Hoskin admitted a total of eight animal cruelty offences, which all occurred during March and April 2023.
Horrified inspectors from Cornwall Council found animals owned by Hoskin in a shocking state.
These sheep were among many animals left to suffer on Daniel Hoskin’s disgusting farm
Kevin Hill, for the Council, informed the court that inspectors found sheep and cattle being kept in an unsuitable environment with access to hazardous items including wire, plastic and carcasses. There were cattle and sheep that had not received prompt or effective treatment and they did not have a suitable diet either.
Hoskin previously received a caution for cruelty offences in 2017
The admitted charges found that Hoskin:
As a keeper of a cattle herd failing to apply both ear tags within 20 days of birthday.
Didn’t provide a suitable diet with sufficient feed to four cattle and five sheep.
Didn’t provide four cattle and five sheep a suitable environment by leaving them access to hazardous objects such as wire and plastic.
Failed to provide 19 cattle and 38 sheep prompt and effective treatment thus failing to protect them from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
Didn’t provide enough feed and water for 29 cattle and 38 sheep.
Failed to store or dispose of 21 bovine carcases and nine sheep carcases.
Didn’t notify the secretary of state (Defra) to the death of cattle within seven days and didn’t share the ear tag number, the date of death and the holding on which it died.
Failed to provide prompt and effective treatment for a collapsed ewe.
Sentencing magistrates told Hoskin that his actions caused “serious suffering to the animals”.
Sentencing | six-month custodial, suspended for 18 months; 180 hours of unpaid work; £154 victim surcharge and court costs of £3,478.21. Disqualified from keeping farm animals for a period of five years (expires November 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | Charles W Gibson, born c. 1972, and Alison Bailey, born c. 1979, of Leonards Farm, Hot Lane, Biddulph Moor, Stoke-on-Trent ST8 7HP – for the appalling neglect of dozens of animals found dead and dying on their squalid dairy farm.
The couple, who left livestock to suffer and die in dung and slurry, stood ashen-faced in Telford Magistrates Court as a district judge condemned their “utterly disgraceful” animal neglect.
In a visit to Leonards Farm one officer had described the “stench of rotting animals to be overwhelming” and the scenes they found were appalling.
The court saw shocking videos of rows of dead and emaciated cattle who had been denied even water to drink for long periods. The judge said the videos he had seen showed dung and slurry had been ankle-deep at best.
Farm buildings had holes in the roof and even no roof at all while concrete floors had been covered in slurry and manure because Gibson “could not be bothered” to clean them out.
“It was utterly disgraceful,” said District Judge Kevin Grego. “Animals had died and been left where they lay. Dead animals were left in unguarded open pits which other animals could just walk into.
“Charles Gibson, you ignored any proper view of animal husbandry. All the animals in your care were very badly mistreated.”
Gibson pleaded guilty to 28 charges of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure the welfare of cattle, sheep, goats, a herd of 26 cattle and a flock of 31 sheep including one blind ram.
His co-accused Alison Bailey admitted neglecting a flock of chickens.
She pleaded guilty to one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an injured young hen, another charge of failing to ensure the needs of an animal were met, and another that she failed to protect a flock of more than 50 young and laying hens from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
The court was told that the number of charges had been reduced from more than 100 to the 28 that Gibson faced and the three against Bailey.
The judge said that the floors of farm buildings had been “unscraped for months” and “living beasts were left to rot and indeed die”.
The offences had been discovered between May and December 2020 by trading standards officers who had received a complaint from a member of the public.
Jane Sarginson KC, prosecuting, had told the court that a council officer had “never seen animals more desperate for water”. An officer was “mugged” by the animals when a bucket of water was taken into one of the pens.
Thirty-five calves on the site drank 75 litres of water in one go, she told the court.
A calf, she said, had a “tennis ball-sized lump on the side of its face” and a bull had been kept “deep in muck and slurry over a foot deep”.
In a visit to the farm one officer had described the “stench of rotting animals to be overwhelming” with five dead and rotting calves covered in fly and maggot infestation.
She added that one poor creature was thought to be pregnant but in fact had a prolapse and had to be put down on the spot.
A large number of animals had to be euthanised by vets, their condition being so poor, including a piglet that had been stuck in the mud. Some 29 calves had to be “humanely dispatched,” said Jane Sarginson.
Two burial pits had been found on the site, despite it being illegal to dispose of creatures in this way.
Adrian Roberts, mitigating for Gibson and Bailey, asked the judge to be as lenient as he could as Gibson was earning £600 per week but had £20,000 in debts. Bailey, he said, had mental health concerns.
He asked the judge to allow them to keep their pets, including cats, dogs, chickens and goats, but this was denied.
They were given 48 hours to arrange for their domestic pets to be taken away from them.
Sentencing | Gibson: 20-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months; 200 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months; £4,000 in court costs. Bailey: 80 hours of unpaid work; £1,000 in court costs. They were also both disqualified from keeping all animals, including pets, and banned from being party to any control or influence, dealing and transportation of animals, indefinitely.
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) | Welsh farmer Philip Edmund Smith, Cefn Ynysoedd, Llanfaglan, Caernarfon LL54 5RA – for multiple animal welfare offences leading to 32 sheep being euthanised.
Philip Smith, who was convicted of similar offences in 2013, pleaded guilty to animal welfare breaches and for failure to dispose of sheep remains.
Smith subjected animals to unnecessary suffering and failed to take the appropriate and reasonable steps to secure the needs of the flock. This included the need for animals to be protected from pain, suffering, injury and disease.
The court heard that of the 150 sheep seen by officials on his farm, approximately 75% were found to be severely lame and unable to bear weight on at least one limb. Tragically, 32 had to be euthanised due to the severity of their lameness.
An album of photographs capturing the shocking conditions and unnecessary suffering of the animals was shown to the court.
Officials were horrified by the condition in which animals were found. It was their opinion that the sheep were experiencing unnecessary pain and suffering; and the defendant should have sought veterinary assistance much earlier.
Animal health officers from Gwynedd’s Trading Standards Service and the Animal & Plant Health Agency (APHA) veterinary team visited the farm several times during July and August 2021 following an anonymous tip-off by a concerned member of the public reporting lame sheep on land at Cefn Ynysoedd.
During the investigation officers from Gwynedd Council’s Trading Standards Service were subjected to threatening and abusive behaviour by Smith.
During the initial inspection a collapsed ram was discovered in one farm building. He was severely lame with foot-rot, had severe chronic skin lesions and inflammation of the larynx that would have caused a degree of difficulty breathing. It was the veterinary officer’s opinion that the ram was suffering unnecessarily and needed to be euthanised to prevent any further suffering.
A post-mortem examination carried out on the ram indicated that the skin lesions were likely to have been present for several months and concluded that there was no evidence of paring of the feet to remove the overgrown horn.
Several other sheep were found to be suffering with irreversible foot lesions caused by conditions that may have been treatable had they been identified and treated sooner. Several of the sheep were also suffering from fly strike and had live maggots in their feet.
Sentencing | concurrent suspended prison terms of 26 weeks for the six section 4 Animal Welfare Act offences and 12 weeks for the two section 9 Animal Welfare offences. 20-hour rehabilitation course. Fined £400 for the six Animal By-Product Regulation offences and ordered to pay £4,475 in costs and a victim surcharge of £128. Disqualified from owning, keeping, transporting or dealing in farmed animals for five years (expires June 2028).
CONVICTED (2023) | Eirlys Thomas and Dewi Aeron Thomas of Cildywyll Farm, Llanddowror, Carmarthen SA33 4HP – for the mistreatment of livestock.
Neither Dewi Thomas (pictured) or his mother Eirlys Thomas were banned from working with animals despite causing enormous suffering to cattle and sheep on their disgusting farm
Mother and son Eirlys and Dewi Thomas were prosecuted for the unnecessary suffering of livestock after concerned welfare officers visited their farm and found animals in an ‘appalling’ condition.
Following welfare concerns, an unannounced visit was carried out at Cildywyll Farm in February 2022 by Carmarthenshire County Council’s Animal Health Officer and a vet from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).
As the officers approached the farm from the drive, they came across a very thin, brown cow that was lying down in a field by herself. The cow had just calved. The cow was still alive but her calf had sadly died. The cow had not been properly observed or monitored during the birthing process, resulting in the loss of the calf.
In a shed on the farm, officers found another cow lying in muck laying on her right-hand side with her legs tucked up. It was first thought the cow was dead until she was seen to be breathing. The cow was in poor body condition, with no evidence of food or water in front of her and no dry area to lie down. Behind the cow, and against a wall, lay her calf which had died. The cow had been lying in that state, untreated since she had calved 5 days prior. After advice from the farm’s vet, the cow had to be euthanised.
Within the calf pens, was a downer calf that could not get up. After assessing the calf, it was advised to euthanise the calf due to severe pneumonia. Several other calves also needed to be treated for pneumonia but had not received any veterinary treatment.
In the sheep shed, officers found several untreated lame sheep. Two downer ewes were assessed by a vet and it was advised that both ewes were euthanised.
The cows, calves and sheep had no access to fresh drinking water and drank immediately when the officers gave them water.
There were 19 cattle carcasses and 3 sheep carcasses laying around the farm in various stages of decay where wildlife and farm animals, including pigs, had access to the carcasses.
The Thomases both pleaded guilty to four counts of section 4 and three counts of section 9 offences of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, by causing unnecessary suffering.
They also failed to dispose of Category 1 material without undue delay and did not ensure that no animal or bird have access to the carcasses.
Finally, they failed to report death within seven days and therefore failed to comply with The Cattle Identification (Wales) Regulations 2007.
Sentencing | 20-week custodial sentence, suspended for 24 months, concurrent on each charge; 200 hours of unpaid work, 25 days of Rehabilitation Activity Requirements; costs of £2,700.00.
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) | Hayden Walter Fortune, born c. 1975, of Pyethornes Farm, Wigglesworth, Skipton BD23 4SB – for the shocking neglect of pigs and cattle on his farm.
An investigation by North Yorkshire Trading Standards officers revealed appalling neglect and suffering on Hayden Fortune’s farm
A visit to Pyethornes Farm by the trading standards animal health team in April 2022 uncovered “dystopian” levels of neglect and suffering with cattle and pigs kept in appalling conditions. No feed, water or dry bedding was available to animals and numerous carcasses were left in various states of decay around the pens, which still housed live animals.
Conditions were so poor that it was not possible to identify the exact number of carcasses on site but it was estimated to exceed 300.
Officers had to climb over mounds of dead pigs to reach pens where surviving animals were standing in knee-deep manure.
Fortune was convicted of numerous offences under the Animal Welfare Act, including:
Causing unnecessary suffering to pigs by exposing them to the carcases of others, maintaining them in flooded pens with lurid water, providing no dry area and a lack of feed and drinking water.
Having a level of manure in the bovine area that made animal movement difficult, exposing cattle to the carcases of others, providing no dry area, and providing a lack of feed and drinking water.
Housing animals in a dangerous environment with hazardous material, including sharp wood and metal.
Sentencing | 12-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months; £3,000 compensation and £1,000 towards costs. Disqualified from keeping livestock for life.
