Rothwell woman spared from prison after keeping horses in 'cruel and degrading' conditions

A Rothwell woman was told she was not fit to look after animals as she was spared from prison for keeping horses in ‘cruel and degrading’ conditions.

Claire Jones was prosecuted by the RSPCA after inspectors found two of her horses with lice, cracked hoofs and urine scalds and to be so lean that bones were visible.

They had been kept in a dark and dirty stable in their own faeces, with no straw bedding, but have since been signed over for rehoming.

On Tuesday (January 24) 49-year-old Jones was given a suspended prison sentence and banned from keeping animals.

Wellingborough Magistrates’ Court heard an officer from World Horse Welfare attended the Rothwell yard where she was keeping the horses on April 14 last year and found the stable to be very dirty with a strong smell.

Prosecuting, Janita Patel said: "Both [horses] were found to be in a very poor bodily condition."

The officer gave Jones, of Market Hill in Rothwell, advice on the horses and cleaning up the stable. On two occasions over the next 10 days the RSPCA attempted to visit but the gate was locked and they applied for a warrant, before returning with police and a vet on April 28.

They found 12-year-old mare Pixie and two-year-old colt Gary in conditions which were ‘unsuitable and unhygienic’ with no proper bedding.

Pixie was so thin that her ribs, hips and spine were clearly visible. She had patches of hair loss, obvious evidence of a lice infestation and her hoofs were overgrown, cracked and split.

Gary was excitable when he came out of the stable. His bones were clearly visible with hair loss and lice. He had hard matted faeces stuck to his hair because there was no bedding and he had to lie on the stable floor. Gary also had urine scalds on his leg and his hoofs were also overgrown, cracked and split.

The ground of the stable saturated with urine – squelching under the RSCPA inspector's foot as she walked around.

Ms Patel said: "It's shocking [that] they could be kept there 24/7."

A vet said that they had suffered for several months. A farrier who examined the ponies in May was of the opinion that their hoofs hadn't been trimmed for between six and eight months.

Ms Patel said warning notices had been sent to Jones but that she had failed to accept the advice.

She said: "They have fallen on deaf ears."

When she was interviewed Jones said she had little equine experience and that she used to use straw but that Gary would eat it.

The court heard she thought the skin issues were caused by fleas and treated it with white vinegar but that she didn’t notice the sores.

Ms Patel said Jones agreed that the horses were a bit lean and that the stable was a 's*** tip'. She told the RSPCA that money wasn't an issue and that she didn't know why she hadn't got a vet out.

She later signed the horses over and admitted three animal welfare offences, including two of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Jones was not initially legally represented at court and, when spoken to in the dock, said: "I do accept responsibility. I'm sorry."

She sought advice from duty solicitor Laura Mills when she was warned that she faced a possible prison sentence. Each offence carried a maximum of six months in custody when sentenced at a magistrates’ court.

Ms Mills said Jones had pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, had no previous convictions and was remorseful for her actions.

She urged the case for a suspended sentence and said an immediate prison spell would be ‘catastrophic’.

She said: "From speaking to her it's absolutely lesson learnt."

District Judge Amar Mehta told Jones she was lucky the animals survived and that her offending crossed the custodial threshold – but that she had escaped going to prison by ‘a whisker’.

He said: "You kept these horses in a condition which, when one looks at the photographs, makes the court shudder.

"That is not how to keep animals. You kept them in cruel and degrading conditions."

Jones was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.

She will be disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years and must pay costs of £500 and a surcharge to fund victim services of £154.

Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Sue Haywood said: “This was a heartbreaking case and we would like to thank World Horse Welfare and the Northants Police rural crime team for their assistance, as well as the members of the public who reported their concerns to us.

“A responsible horse owner would have intervened and provided their animal with veterinary attention for their chronic skin condition and poor bodily condition long before they had got into such an appalling state, and would not have kept these horses in such unsuitable environments.

"But sadly this didn’t happen in this case and Pixie and Gary suffered unnecessarily for a long time even though we and other charities had tried to work with the defendant and offer help and advice.”