A farmer who left dead sheep, lambs and calves on his farmland to rot for as long as three months has been ordered to pay over £11,300.
Richard Hobday, 55, of The Mews, Alstonefield, Ashbourne, pleaded guilty at Northern Derbyshire Magistrates Court in January to offences of failing to clear up dead, rotting, decaying sheep, lamb and calf carcasses from land at Elton Moor.
Some of the remains were discovered in February 2018 but not cleared away until May.
The law states that carcasses should be collected without undue delay under conditions which prevent risks to public and animal health, and not following the requirements is contrary to the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013.
The court heard that Hobday failed to clear the dead animals despite being warned by Derbyshire County Council trading standards officer to do so.
The farmer returned to court on Monday 18 February and was sentenced to pay £11,390.
He was fined £1,000 for each of his nine charges, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £100 and court costs of £2,290.
Cabinet Member for Health and Communities Councillor, Carol Hart said the case is “very worrying”, and “is made worse by the fact that despite a trading standards warning the farmer still failed to do what was required.”
“Leaving these dead animals for four months in a field posed a threat to public health and the health of other animals due to the potential transmission of disease, and would also have been distressing for anyone coming across such a scene,” she said.
