Vermin Patrol 2003 - Part 1
Badgers
A deliberate
attack on a badger sett during the badger's breeding season has earned
a £2,000 fine for the woman responsible. With the assistance
of workmen, Patricia Cohen of 83 Cromwell Road, Kingston Upon Thames,
cut down a number of trees and filled in several entrances to a badger
sett, which was in the garden of a premises she owned. The police were
called to the scene, and found that large logs had been placed over
several entrances to the badger sett. Another sett entrance had been
filled in using heavy soil. In addition, creosote had been poured over
the area. The case against Cohen was heard at Kingston magistrates on
15/1/03. Cohen pleaded guilty to offences against the Protection of
Badger's Act 1992. Fortunately, the badgers survived the attack on their
home.
Farmer Trevor Davies (72) of Coed-y-Bryn, Lixwm, near Holywell
filled in two badger holes on his North Wales farm and poured oil around
them - because he believed that the setts presented a danger to his
cattle Flintshire magistrates heard on 30/1/03. Davies got a mechanical
bucket on the back of his tractor and pushed all the soil back into
the two holes. He then poured oil around the holes in the hope the
badgers
would stay away. He admitted two charges of damaging and obstructing
a badger sett and was given a conditional discharge for two years and
ordered to pay prosecution costs of £100.
Bloodsports
A drunken kennel
worker who swore and shouted at police officers during a demonstration
outside of the Houses of Parliament escaped a penalty o 6/1/03 after
he apologised in court. David Sherwood (46) from Whittonstall,
Northumberland, who is the kennel man with the Braes of Derwent Hunt was
conditionally discharged without penalty after Bow Street magistrates
heard he was "verbally hostile and aggressive" during a demonstration.
The prosecution claimed Sherwood approached officers at a cordon erected
to control the demonstration. "He was clearly under the influence
of alcohol," she said. "He grew verbally hostile and aggressive
to the officers. He continued to behave in a disturbing manner…
he was eventually arrested after being warned." He was charged
with being drunk and disorderly. Sherwood pleaded guilty. Magistrates
imposed no penalty and conditionally discharged him for 12 months.
A fox hunt has had a noise abatement order imposed on it and the Master
of Hounds has been told to stop his pack from baying to prevent a public
nuisance. In what is believed to be the first action of its kind, The
Isle of Wight Foxhounds was served with the order after complaints
from people living close to its kennels. Joint Master Richard Standing said on 8/1/03 that he would appeal against the order, which has been
suspended until the matter is decided by magistrates later in January
2003. The complaints have come not from people opposed to fox hunting,
but from hunt supporters who say that they cannot put up with the noise
of barking hounds any longer. Anita Fitzgerald (42) one of those
to complain, is a hunt supporter who has sung at the Isle of Wight
Hunt
Ball. She said: "This is nothing to do with the argument about
hunting. It is about the most basic human right of being able to sleep."
She moved to a house close to the kennel at Gatcombe three years ago.
"The noise has made my life a living hell," she said. Fitzgerald
said she had complained to the council only after discussions with the
hunt had proved fruitless. "I tried everything to get things done
amicably but now I have had to get the council involved. The constant
noise of the dogs was driving me bonkers. "Together with another
neighbour we complained to the council. It has investigated and seen
fit to serve the notice. "We have been asked to give evidence
and we most certainly will." (I don't think she will be asked back
to sing at the next hunt ball)
On 9/1/03 Julian Leefe-Griffiths of Hollyhill, Colemans Hatch,
admitted keeping a vehicle without an excise licence. He was fined £190
plus £45 prosecution costs, and ordered to pay £160 back
duty. Leefe-Griffiths hunts with the Old Surrey & Burstow and
West Kent Foxhounds
Marcus
Wright (28) of 7 Fernie Avenue, Melton, who is the kennel huntsman
of The Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire Beagles was
arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer during
a demonstration outside Westminster. His charge was later reduced
to obstructing a police officer and he was fined £50 with £55
costs at Bow Street magistrates on 13/1/03.
Allegations
of racism were dropped on 21/1/03 against Robin Page (61) from
Barton, Glos was questioned by police after saying country dwellers
should enjoy the same rights as blacks, Muslims and homosexuals. Page
was arrested on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred after making
a speech at a pro-hunting rally which began: "If there is a black,
vegetarian, Muslim, asylum-seeking, one-legged, lesbian lorry driver
present…I want the same rights as you."
Charges were dropped on 22/1/03 against a Norfolk farming student who
was arrested at a demonstration
in London. George Todhunter Bramley (20) from Gillingham,
near Beccles, said last night he was "extremely relieved"
to learn that no further action would be taken against him. He was due
to appear before Bow Street magistrates charged with breach of cordon
and demonstrating in a non-designated area. But a spokesman from the
Crown Prosecution Service in London confirmed: "Mr Bramley's case
has been discontinued because it would not be in the public's interest
to continue it." He was arrested after he handcuffed himself to
the railings in front of the main entrance to the House of Commons.
Also on 22/1/03 Suffolk vet David Dugdale, from Freckenham, near
Mildenhall, is charged with using threatening words and behaviour during
a demonstration in
London. His case is due to be heard at Bow Street magistrates on 21/2/03.
A father and son have been charged with assaulting two police officers
outside Nantwich Civic Hall. Tony Kirkham (58) and his son Timothy (20) both of Ridley Farm, Tarporley, both are keen supporters of the Cheshire Foxhounds and Cheshire Forest Hunt were arrested
at 1.30am and charged with three offences that left one police officer
with a fractured wrist and the other with facial injuries. Both officers
are now off work following the incident, with the policeman who suffered
a fractured wrist unable to work for a fortnight. The incident took
place outside the civic hall, which was staging The Cheshire Foxhounds
Farmers Hunt Ball when the two men are alleged to have assaulted
the officers who were helped by the hall's doormen who came to their
rescue. A police spokesman said: "The incident had nothing to do
with protesters, it was a disturbance that took place outside the civic
hall that ended up with two officers being assaulted. "Some of
the doormen who were working at the hall came to their assistance as
it was getting out of hand and we would like to say thank you to them
for helping out the officers - it was a nasty incident." Both
men were charged with actual bodily harm, resisting or obstructing
a constable
in the execution of duty, with Tony Kirkham also charged with threatening
behaviour and his son with obstructing a person assisting a constable
in the execution of duty. The men appeared at Crewe magistrates Court
on 22/1/03 and the case has now been adjourned until 19/3/03.
Poetic justice 25/1/03 - A man who tried to beat his dog to death with
a shotgun has shot himself dead instead. Police say the Winchester,
Virginia, man called his wife at work and told her their dog had bitten
him and he intended to kill it. Investigators say the shotgun must have
gone off while the man was using it to beat the dog. The stock of the
weapon was broken and there appeared to be blood and dog hair on it.
The dog was taken for to a vets to be looked at, but it's not known
how badly injured it is.
A dog breeder will spend most of his weekends in jail as punishment
for felony charges related to a large dogfighting ring. Samson G.
Pruitt (30) was sentenced in Wake County Superior Court on 27/1/03
two weekends in jail and three years' supervised probation. He pleaded
guilty to felony dogfighting and cruelty to animals after 81 pit bulls
were removed from his house. Pruitt's sentence also covered his guilty
pleas to charges of possession with intent to sell and deliver marijuana
and maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of selling a controlled substance.
Pruitt is not allowed to breed or board any dogs except three older
family pets. Pruitt, who lived in Knightdale in Wake County at the time
of his arrest, has moved to Durham County.
Animal officials confiscated 24 beagles and charged four area men with
cruel neglect after the dogs were found in squalid conditions last week
at a makeshift kennel in the Southbridge section of Wilmington, authorities
said. Around 100 hunting beagles were kept at the kennel. Adrian
Waters (38) of New Castle and Ronald Crump (48) of Newark,
were each cited on 4/3/03 with eight misdemeanor counts of cruelty to
animals. Preston Hudson (63) of Wilmington, received five animal-cruelty
summonses and James Watson (45) of New Castle was cited with
three counts of cruelty to animals. Animal-control officers had been
monitoring the site in the 900 block of S. Heald St., removed 24 of
about 100 beagles.
On 15/3/03 a company director who claimed to be a victim of a "regime
of terror" has been jailed for 15 months after he lied during
the trial of a major drugs dealer at the centre of a crime empire. Stewart
Sayer (45) of Crows Hall Lane, Attleborough who was field master
for the Dunston Harriers, said he was a under constant threat two
years ago when he gave evidence at the trial of Richard Carter. Carter,
along with his brother Stephen, ran a large-scale drug dealing operation
and smuggled a steady supply of cannabis and heroin to inmates at Norwich
prison. During the trial, Sayer lied in court to help Richard Carter
hide his "ill-gotten" gains from his drug dealing empire.
He said he bought a scrapyard in Wymondham for £75,000 through
an offshore company when in fact Carter had provided the cash. Sayer
admitted perjury.
On 27/3/03 three members of a gun club admitted shooting dead nearly
20 goats were ordered to pay E:6,000. John Collins, Diarmid
O'Neill and Aidan Shannon with addressed in Drimoleague
Co. Cork pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal damaged over the
shooting
of 18 goats. The men initially entered a not guilty plea at Skibbereen
District Court, claiming they had been asked to kill the goats by a
local farmer. They told the court Padraig Collins asked them to kill
the animals because they were causing damage to land and crops near
Drimoleague. Dunmanway District Court heard the defendants shot the
goats with a rifle in the forest. Ten days later a local man found
a
wounded goat in the forest and contacted the gardai. Sadly, the goat
had to be put down. The judge described the defendants as "foolish".
The men's solicitor said his clients believed they were eliminating
a pest problem. They were ordered to pay a total of E6,000 to the ISPCA,
the Court Poor Box, the owners and the Garda Benevolent Fund. Sentencing
was adjourned until 24/3/04.
Eggs/Birds
A
bird-snatcher became the first person in the country to be jailed for
stealing a hawk from the wild. Leonard O'Connor (35) of St Anne's
Road, Huyton was jailed for four months by Knowsley magistrates on 15/1/03
after he admitted possession of a wild bird. O'Connor also pleaded guilty
to making a false declaration to DEFRA in relation to the bird in October
2001, taking two goshawks in May 2000 and being in possession of a goshawk
tail.
Two men who targeted wild birds helped provide evidence against themselves
by taking pictures at the scene Kirkwall Sheriff Court heard on 15/1/03.
When questioned Michael Stockton (26) and John Latham (22)
both from St Helens in Merseyside, denied having done anything illegal,
but a box containing three Arctic tern eggs and three great skua eggs
was found and four snipe eggs were discovered hidden by the roadside.
Latham was fined £2,500 after pleading guilty to stealing Arctic
tern, great skua and snipe eggs. He also admitted disturbing a wild
bird at its nest site and possessing equipment used in the theft of
eggs and the disturbance of nesting birds. The equipment and disturbance
charges were also admitted by Stockton who was fined £2,000.
A third man Andrew Kinsley (32) from Newton Le Willows in Merseyside,
was fined £500 after admitting stealing two camouflage nets
from a nature reserve in Aberdeenshire. None of the men was in court
to hear
sentence passed. (Lathams
other conviction)
An Oswestry builder sent three wild birds for delivery to a customer
in a cardboard box with only tiny slits for them to breathe any air,
a court heard. The shocked recipient opened the box to find the rotting
carcass of a bird inside and two jays in a poor state of health, Wrexham
magistrates heard on 28/3/03. Police, RSPCA inspectors and an RSPB expert
raided the home of the sender Mark Boilstone (41) of Nant Glyn,
Pontfadog, where they found wild birds caged illegally in aviaries.
They included a tawny owl, a curlew, a redshank, a bar tailed godwit,
a hawfinch and a crossbill. Boilstone admitted illegal possession of
live birds, advertising live wild jays for sale, and transporting the
jays in a way likely to cause unnecessary suffering. Sentence was adjourned
until next month for pre-sentence reports to be prepared and Boilstone
was allowed bail.
A trapper who caught wild birds in the woods around Ongar was convicted
and fined £3,000 after an elaborate undercover operation involving
the police and the RSPCA. Officers from the RSPCA followed Paul Souter (55)
from Loughton and watched him inspecting his traps and spreading bird
seed on a mist net which he used to catch wild birds. At the same
time, police and RSPCA inspectors raided his home and found cages containing
wild British songbirds. When Souter's wife phoned his mobile phone
to
tell him of the raid he was observed disposing of his traps in a lay-by
on his way home. At Epping magistrates on 3/4/03 Souter was fined £500
for possession of the wild birds and a further £500 for taking
birds from the wild. He was ordered to pay the £2,000 costs of
the RSPCA and forced to hand over his equipment.
Equine
A Kent horse
dealer has been banned from keeping horses for 10 years after an RSPCA
inspector discovered two starving Thoroughbreds at Kevin O'Brien's White
Oak Stables, David Street, Harvel. Kevin O'Brien (55) of Lavidge
Road, Eltham, was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to the
horses. At Dartford magistrates on 22/1/03 O'Brien was ordered to pay £1,400
towards RSPCA costs and carry out 180 hours of community punishment.
He will also be electronically tagged and ordered to observe
an 8pm to 6am curfew for the next two months.
On 24/1/03 a pensioner who admitted causing a horse unnecessary suffering
has lost a battle to keep other animals on his farm. Norwich Crown Court
upheld a 10-year ban on Hubert Barker (70) of Plumstead Road,
Thorpe End from keeping any creatures. But he was given six months
to
sell or find new homes for his cattle, sheep and chickens before the
ban takes effect. The judge did quash the £630 fine on Barker
who said he refused to claim state benefits and chose to live off his
meagre savings instead. The court heard the grey mare involved was
humanely
killed to prevent further suffering.
A racehorse trainer faces a possible jail sentence after pleading
guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to five Thoroughbreds in his
care. On 30/1/03 Bury St Edmunds magistrates found that Kamil Mahdi (53)
of Bill Rickaby Drive, Newmarket kept five Thoroughbreds in an emaciated
condition, and warned him that he could face jail when he
is sentenced next month. On 1/3/03 he was sentenced to a community
punishment order of 240 hours for each charge, to run concurrently.
He was also
ordered to pay £5,500 to the RSPCA to help with the costs of
looking after the horses, which were removed from his Green Ridge Stables,
and ordered to pay £500 legal costs.
Assorted
A fish dealer who tried to smuggle diseased foreign carp into the UK, risking a fatal viral outbreak among this country's native species, is to serve a nine month suspended prison sentence, Maidstone Crown Court ruled on 31/3/03. Essex fish dealer Mark Anthony Dallas, trading as Premier Fish Supplies, who pleaded guilty to two illegal import offences under fish health legislation, is the first fish smuggler to face this penalty. A co-defendant, Lee Coles, of Chelmsford, received a 100-hour community service order. Both men are to pay costs set at £1,200 and £500 respectively. The court heard how 1.8 tonnes of diseased large live carp were smuggled into the country, via Dover. The consignment of 262 fish was intercepted at the Channel Tunnel by Government fish health inspectors. Tests carried out by identified the killer virus, Spring Viraemia of Carp (SVC) in samples taken from the consignment.
Farm Animals (Guardians Of The Land - My Arse!!!)
On 6/1/03 two
men were warned they could go to prison for their part in an illegal
goat-slaughtering operation. A district judge heard how 10 goats
were
killed in a barn at Londonderry, North Yorkshire, using a blunt knife.
Harrogate magistrates were shown an undercover video in which the
goats
were butchered "while they appeared to be still alive". Michael
Hawkswell (26) of Nunwick, near Ripon and Isap Lakha (67)
of Saville Road, Dewsbury, both admitted their parts in the illegal
slaughter. Lakha, a retired butcher with 20 years' experience, pleaded
guilty to the ill-treatment of 10 goats and slaughtering the animals
without a licence. Hawkswell admitted allowing goats he owned to be
ill- treated and also allowing premises to be used as a slaughterhouse
without a licence. On 3/2/03 Hawkswell was given a four-month prison
sentence and Lakha was jailed for two months at Harrogate magistrates.
A farmer was warned he could face prison after admitting 32 cases of
cruelty against sheep and cows when he appeared at Loughborough magistrates
on 25/1/03. Richard Lawrence of Goodwood Close in Market Harborough,
pleaded guilty to 30 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to the
animals he kept on two plots of land at Frisby, near Melton. Of these,
20 charges related to the illegal docking of lambs tails. He also admitted
keeping an animal which he failed to ensure was fed a wholesome diet
and failing to dispose of three sheep carcasses. Lawrence is due to
be sentenced at Loughborough magistrates on 14/2/03.
On 18/2/03 the pig farmer who was blamed for starting the foot and
mouth epidemic appeared in court again. He has paid only £60 of the
£10,000 legal costs imposed in June 2002 when he was convicted
of gross animal cruelty and ignoring farm health regulations. Bobby
Waugh will take 40 years to settle the bill at his present rate
of payment, and may avoid most of it if he wins a fresh round of legal
proceedings. A district judge in Sunderland heard that Waugh, who has
been banned from keeping livestock for 15 years, was only able to pay £5 a week to the court. Waugh told the hearing that he owed £7,000
to the bank, after taking into account the value of his terraced house
in Sunderland, earned just £70 a week, and was facing financial
ruin. The judge told the new hearing that Northumberland was determined
to exact the costs. It brought the case after Sunderland magistrates
cut Mr Waugh's bill to £520 in December when they were told he
was crippled by debts and virtually bankrupt. The ruling was set aside
pending Northumberland's challenge and after protests from farmers
and
the Tory MP for Hexham, Peter Atkinson.
A farmer was charged with affray on 26/2/03 after a woman veterinary
official was allegedly held face down in liquid slurry at a farm in
Cornwall. Roger Baker (60) was also charged with making threats
to kill and obstructing a police officer in the lawful execution 'of
his duty. He was remanded in custody and is expected to appear before
magistrates in Truro later today. The incident happened when the vet
aws investigating complaints about the welfare of sheep and cattle at
a farm at Ventongimps, near Truro. The pair were allegedly held in a
slurry pit. They emerged covered in mud and animal dung and were hosed
down.
Domestic
RSPCA inspectors
raided a stud farm and discovered emaciated and sick dogs, Lewes magistrates
heard on 18/1/03. The animals were suffering from severe diarrhoea
and in a dull, depressed and lethargic state when they were seized.
One of the dogs was so weak it had to be lifted into the RSPCA's van.
The animals were being looked after by farmer Barbara Joyce (51) of Manor Farm Cottages, South Heighton, Newhaven, who says she
rescued them from Ireland and was caring for them before finding them
new homes. Joyce who runs Quimper Stud Farm in Rodmell near
Lewes, is accused of causing unnecessary suffering to four dogs. Her
son Oliver Joyce (27) of Cinque Foil, Peacehaven, faces the
same charges and is also accused of having custody of an animal while
disqualified for five years. He was banned from owning animals in
April 2002 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering
to sheep. Oliver Joyce, who once made the semi finals of Crufts' Young
Handler of the Year competition, told the court he had not been to
the stud farm for more than four months and had not worked with animals
there since his ban was imposed. The hearing was adjourned to 13/2/03.
RSPCA inspectors who seized a bull-mastiff type dog from a Blackburn
house could see every bone in its emaciated body, a court was told.
On 22/1/03 Blackburn magistrates banned Amanda Jane Hickey (32) of Johnson Street, Blackburn and Sean Pinder (33) of Higson
Street, Blackburn from keeping any animal for the next 10 years. The
court heard after two months of care and proper feeding the dog had
increased its body weight by 78%. Hickey and Pinder pleaded guilty
to causing unnecessary suffering. As well as being banned from keeping
animals, they were each given a conditional discharge for 12 months
and ordered to pay a total of £500 costs between them.
A Great Harwood woman has been banned from keeping animals for five
years after one of her two cats died when they were left without regular
food for up to 10 days. Carol Ashton (30) of Blackburn Road,
admitted two charges of neglect when she appeared in court at Hyndburn
on 22/1/03. As well as the ban Ashton was given a 12-month community
rehabilitation order and ordered to pay £250 costs.
A man whose two dogs killed one cat and badly injured another has
been convicted of failing to keep the dogs under proper control. David
Paul, of The Wellington pub, Stand Lane, Radcliffe, had denied
any wrongdoing by the dogs. However, on 22/1/03 Bury magistrates
found
him guilty in a prosecution brought by Bury Council. The court was
told that a witness saw Paul's dogs attacking a neighbour's cat in
his garden. He hit the pair with a golf club to free the cat, but
its injuries were so bad it died later. The cat's owner also recognised
the dogs and had seen them roaming round her home. A month later,
a second witness saw the dogs attack another cat, "pulling it
between them like a tug of war". The witness intervened, hitting
one of the dogs and forcing them to let go of the cat. Although badly
injured, it survived the attack. The court ordered Paul to keep the
dog under proper control and to pay the council's costs of £646.
A woman who drowned her pet dog and its five puppies in her kitchen
sink before dumping them in a wheelie bin has been banned from owning
any animal for 25 years. Suzanne Greenhalgh (43) of Roy Street,
Royton, near Oldham was banned from owning a pet by Oldham magistrates
on 6/2/03 after admitting the killings. She drowned the family pet
and its five three-week-old puppies, before placing them in shopping
bags and dumping them in the wheelie bin at the front of her home.
Greenhalgh was ordered to do a 240-hour community order and banned
from owning any animal for 25 years, she was also ordered to pay £861
prosecution costs.
A Tranmere man has been banned from keeping all animals for life after
the RSPCA discovered his pet dog severely underweight and chained
up in the back yard. The German shepherd, was found by the RSPCA chained
up behind a terraced house in Tranmere. She had a scruffy appearance
and on closer physical examination the inspector realised the dog
was emaciated as her bones were prominent enough to touch. On 5/3/03
at Wallasey magistrates William Watson (59) of Allerton Road,
Tranmere pleaded not guilty to causing unnecessary suffering but
was
found guilty after a trial. Magistrates banned Watson from keeping
any animals for life. He was also given a 12-month community rehabilitation
order and was ordered to pay costs of £500. Watson had refused
to relinquish ownership of the dog and she was confiscated by the
court. A new home has already been found for her by the RSPCA and
is doing very well.