Farmer fined £27,000 after failing to safely dispose of dead livestock

Richard William Parry, farmer and company director of Woodbridge-based Mint & Mustard Produce Ltd failed to comply with regulations regarding safe disposal of livestock after they died.

The District Judge Sheraton at Peterborough Magistrates Court considered all the offences and took the totality of offending into account and gave the following:

• Mint & Mustard Produce Ltd was fined 10,000 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £2,000.
• Richard Parry was fined £5,000, with an additional victim surcharge of £2,000 and was ordered to pay £8,000 in costs.

Between December 2022 and October 2023, Suffolk Trading Standards received regular reports from members of the public about dead sheep left lying on land used by Parry in the Gedgrave area..

Following a hearing at Peterborough Magistrates Court District Judge Sheraton considered all the offences and took the totality of offending into account and gave the following. Mint & Mustard Produce Ltd was fined 10,000 and a victim surcharge of £2,000. Richard Parry was fined £5,000, a victim surcharge of £2,000 and was ordered to pay £8,000 in costs.

Suffolk Trading Standards received regularly reports from members of the public, between December 2022 and October 2023 about dead sheep left lying on land used by Parry in the Gedgrave area.

Trading Standards inspected the area and found:

• 13 dead sheep in December 2022 at Gedgrave and an animal by-product bin was found partially open and full of dead sheep.
• 7 dead sheep and sheep bones in June 2023 at Gedgrave and Hazlewood Hall Farm, Saxmundham.
• 5 dead sheep and sheep bones in October 2023 at Gedgrave and an animal by-product bin was found partially open and full of dead sheep.

Some of the sheep found had been dead for weeks or months based on Animal and Plant Health Agency veterinary inspectors’ reports.

Trading Standards visited the land and advised Parry numerous times throughout this period, but these issues continued so a prosecution was launched.

Councillor Steve Wiles, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for public health and public protection, said:

"This was a particularly distressing case for everyone involved. Suffolk Trading Standards officers discovered a number of dead sheep left in fields for weeks, identifying very poor farm management of livestock.

“Despite warnings and previous advice, Mr Parry still failed to do what was required. Animal welfare and the disposal of dead livestock legislation is there for very good reason, to control disease, to protect animals and to ensure the safety of the food chain - these offences put all of that at risk.

“We fully support our Suffolk farming community and all those who work in it. The vast majority work to very high standards. I'd like to thank the members of the public that reported the dead livestock as this would have been disturbing for anyone coming across such a scene."

Anyone who has concerns about the welfare of farmed animals can contact Trading Standards via Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.