Farming couple who let cows suffer in squalor avoid going to prison for 'appalling' animal neglect

In a visit to the farm in Staffordshire one officer had described the "stench of rotting animals to be overwhelming" and the scenes they found were appalling, the court heard.

District judge Kevin Grego told Charles Gibson, aged 51, of Leonard Farm at Biddulph Moor, near Stoke-on-Trent, that he would have been jailed for a considerable amount of time if he had committed the multitude of offences after new sentencing guidelines had come into effect.

"There were absolutely appalling scenes throughout the farm," said Judge Grego at Telford Magistrates Court on Tuesday. "There was an almost total absence of animal husbandry. Gibson was totally out of his depth."

The court had seen 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 the judge. "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, aged 44, 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".

He told Gibson that the offences "by some distance" had crossed the custody threshold and if they had been committed under current laws he "would have gone to prison".

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.

Gibson was handed a 20-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months and warned he would go to jail if he committed another offence. He must also complete 200 hours of unpaid work in the community over the next 12 months.

The judge also ordered Gibson to pay £4,000 in court costs in £120-a-month instalments.

"It will take you some time to pay it but pay it you will, or you will go to prison," said Judge Grego.

The judge said Bailey had a "subordinate role" and ordered her to do 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and pay £1,000 in court costs at the rate of £50 per month.

"Pay it you will," the judge told her, too.

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.

They were given 48 hours to arrange for their domestic pets to be taken away from them.

An investigation into Gibson and Bailey had revealed connections to a family dairy business called Wheelton Farms, at Mill End Farm, Gawsworth, near Macclesfield, in Cheshire.

Also appearing in court for sentencing were the husband and wife directors of the separate dairy business that was ordered to pay fines and costs of nearly £40,000 after a council investigation found multiple breaches of animal tracking regulations vital to protect human health.

The business had let Gibson have some of their unwanted stock but without the necessary tracking.

The company had pleaded guilty to nine charges related to rules controlling the movement of cattle, and registration of animals. The regulations are designed to protect human health from diseases such as BSE (mad cow disease), TB and other hazardous diseases.

Company directors Martin and Sarah Wheelton were in court to hear Judge Grego tell them that even though the animal husbandry failings at Leonard Farm did not extend to their business, they had fallen short of their responsibilities in tracking the animals.

The judge said: "The offending was against the regulatory regime to ensure the integrity and safety of produce from farms, be it milk, meat or arable.

"Yours were clear and deliberate breaches," he said. "It is not good enough to say you did not realise what was going on.

"If there had been a health scare you would have had an inability to trace your animals.

"Frankly, it has the appearance of cutting corners and cutting costs."

The judge handed down fines totalling £32,000 on four of the most serious charges, and ordered the company to pay £7,450 in costs. He gave them a year to pay.

Michelle Brown, defending Wheelton Farms, said her clients were "stunned and sorry" and that such lapses of recording information would "never happen again".

"They are a company that looks after its animals well. Mr Wheelton has been a farmer all his life."

They now have 500 milking cows at just one farm, instead of the three they had at the time. Gibson had been a contractor and not an employee.

When key employees had left, Martin Wheelton did not know the tracking systems. This has now been rectified by staff using an app.

"They let Gibson have stock on the understanding that Gibson would have done it properly. They should have had more oversight," she said.

"There was no benefit to the company of animals not being registered or tagged," she added.

"There had been a lack of TB testing in one animal but there was no suggestion that it was carrying TB.

"Links were severed with Gibson. They have a previous good history of compliance.

"The offences have caused them both great anguish and it has been an extremely stressful time."