RSPCA: Horse trader jailed for six months for cruelty to horses

Friday, 12 June 2009 12:00 AM

A horse trader found guilty of animal cruelty was today sentenced to six months in prison and banned from keeping horses, ponies and donkeys for life. James John Gray (45) was also ordered to pay £400,000 costs.

His son, James Gray Junior (16), was ordered to complete an 18-month supervision order and banned from keeping equines for 10 years.

Wife Julie Gray (42) and daughters Jodie Gray (26) and Cordelia Gray (21) were ordered to complete 150 hours of community service and were banned from keeping equines for 10 years. Julie Gray was ordered to pay £750 in costs and Cordelia and Jodie Gray were ordered to pay £500 each in costs.

James Gray and his son James Gray Junior were found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to 40 equines on Friday 8 May after a 12-week trial, brought by the RSPCA. Along with wife Julie Gray and daughters Jodie Gray and Cordelia Gray they were also found guilty of failing to meet the welfare needs of 114 equines.

The family was prosecuted after RSPCA inspectors discovered more than 100 horses, ponies and donkeys and the bodies of a further 32 equines at Spindle Farm near Amersham between Friday 4 and Wednesday 9 January 2008.

RSPCA inspector Kirsty Hampton said: "The RSPCA is pleased that the district judge has recognised the extent of the cruelty, neglect and the suffering endured by the animals in this case. We see the disqualifications from keeping horses as an effective measure to prevent animals suffering in the future."

Inspector Hampton described the conditions that the horses were kept in as 'grotesque'.

She said: "When we arrived at the farm we were confronted with an extremely distressing scene. The stench of decomposition and urine was overpowering. The sight of horses left in such a miserable state will stay with me forever and I hope I never have to see animals treated with such little care and compassion again."

Officers from World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary, vets and Thames Valley Police worked alongside the RSPCA in very difficult conditions to rescue the surviving animals from the terrible scene.

Many of the animals had little food or dry bedding and were crammed into pens, ankle deep in faeces. Other horses had simply been left to die where they fell and then, surrounded by their companions, decomposed. Further carcasses were discovered in surrounding fields, some burned on bonfires, and there was a pile of bones and a skull against an outbuilding.

District Judge Andrew Vickers said of James John Gray at today's hearing at Aylesbury Magistrates' Court: "I know you have a strong background with equines so it is all the more sad that you stand convicted. It is something your father and grandfather would be ashamed of."

All the defendants had denied all counts of cruelty and neglect. In court, James Gray claimed sole responsibility for the animals and said his wife and one of his daughters were "frightened" of the horses.

He said he ran a limited company dealing in 2,300 to 2,400 equines a year and, of these, "nine or ten" would die. He added that bad weather had been responsible for the wet bedding and "temporary" overcrowding when the RSPCA visited his farm in January 2008. He denied that the horses were poorly fed and housed.

The investigation has been one of the RSPCA's biggest ever, and just providing care and rehabilitation treatment for the horses has cost the charity more than £850,000.

If members of the public would like to contribute towards the work of the RSPCA and the animals in its care, they should call 0300 123 8000 or visit www.rspca.org.uk/amershamhorses.

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Notes to editors:

All five defendants pleaded not guilty to a total of 12 charges each of neglect and cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (one charge was dropped during the trial).

James Gray, his wife Julie, son James Gray Junior and daughter Cordelia are from Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Cordelia's sister Jodie Gray is from Park Road, Ashford, Middlesex.

The operation to remove the animals to safety over a year ago was a difficult but successful joint effort between many animal welfare agencies and the police. The RSPCA would like to thank them all - and in particular the Horse Trust, Redwings, and World Horse Welfare - for helping us provide ongoing care for the huge number of deprived horses, ponies and donkeys removed from Spindle Farm in January 2008.

Photographs and footage are available. For these, or to arrange interviews, please contact the RSPCA press office on 0300 123 0244 or email press@rspca.org.uk.

RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS
Press office direct lines: 0300 123 0244/0288 Fax: 0303 123 0099
Duty press officer (evenings and weekends) Tel 0870 0555500 and ask for pager number 828825
Email: press@rspca.org.uk. Website: www.rspca.org.uk

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