A man responsible for driving a foal in a cart at Appleby Horse Fair has been sent to prison after a trial involving three people and 14 animal welfare offences.
Samuel Powell, 35, of Forstal Road, Lenham, Kent, Jimmy Price, 26, of Well Street, Maindstone, Kent, and Danny Lee Price, 30, of Victoria Court, East Farleigh, Maidstone, were sentenced on 10 January following a three-day trial at Medway Magistrates’ Court.
Samuel Powell was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison after he was convicted of seven offences relating to horses, two of which he had been convicted of at an earlier hearing at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court.
An RSPCA spokesman said Powell caused uneccessary suffering to a skewbald filly by working her when she was too young, leading her to become lame and suffer “extreme” pain and failed to provide veterinary treatment for a respiratory infection. He also failed to provide veterinary treatment for a piebald Shetland filly, for a wound caused by her headcollar.
“The incident involved the foal pulling a cart with people on it and happened in June last year at the Appleby Horse Fair,” he said.
Jimmy Price was sentenced to 225 days in prison after he was convicted of six charges; two relating to a skewbald gelding who had been allowed to suffer and dogs whose needs were not met, and four charges from a previous trial, two relating to a deer he killed with a knife and two for hare-coursing.
He is also consecutively serving 45 days for the activation of a suspended sentence relating to a previous conviction for theft and attempted theft.
A spokesman for the RSPCA said Price was arrested by police in Felixtowe, Suffolk, in November 2018 following reports of men hare-coursing.
“His phone was confiscated and passed to the RSPCA for investigation and a number of images were found including the killing of a deer,” he said.
“Following this, RSPCA inspectors and independent vets visited a location in Well Street, along with the police, who executed a warrant to search the premises in March 2019. A number of horses were seized including a young cob who had a severe wound to her nose caused by a headcollar as well as two dogs.”
The spokesman added inspectors had visited the same location in January 2019 for a separate incident and seized a number of horses.
“Vets who visited the location found horses had experienced significant suffering to a variety of failures including failure to provide suitable diet and care for them.”
Danny Lee Price pleaded guilty to one offence of causing uncessary suffering a horse who was found dead between 13 February and 13 March 2019.
“Vets who examined the horse said that the most likely cause of death was starvation and or dehydration,” said the spokesman.
RSPCA special operation unit inspector Pippa Boyd said: “These horses were all let down by their owners who saw them as a commodity rather than as sentient beings.
“It appeared that horses, some of which were pregnant, which were not classed as valuable and as a result were not given even the basic standards of care. When it came to ownership no one would take responsibility for them.”
Ms Boyd added that when investigating Jimmy Price for welfare offences inspectors found footage on his phone of him killing the deer with a knife.
“The footage is really difficult to watch and the deer would have suffered a slow, and painful death,” she said.
The spokesman added the charity worked closely with Suffolk and Kent Police rural teams during the investigations and thanked them for their support.
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Jimmy Price was disqualified from keeping dogs for five years and ordered to pay £5,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £115. The court issued a deprivation order for the gelding and two dogs. In mitigation the court heard he denied ownership of the horse. It was accepted that horses were part of his livelihood and he had a young family to provide for.
Samuel Powell was disqualified from keeping equines for five years and ordered to pay £5,000 costs. In mitigation the court heard Powell would buy horses in poor condition and rehabilitate them before selling them on.
Danny Lee Price was sentenced to a 12-month community order, 150 hours unpaid work and must serve 10 rehabillitation days. He was ordered to pay £1,500 costs and a £85 victim surcharge. In mitigation the court heard the neglect was not intentional and had been accidental.
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