Three boys arrested after livestock killed on school farm

Three boys have been arrested after they killed eleven chickens and a pig on a school farm.

Three children, aged just 12, 13 and 14, committed the crime over the Christmas period at Westlands secondary school in Sittingbourne, Kent.

All three have now been arrested by police, who are investigating on suspicion of criminal damage and animal cruelty.

The chickens were allegedly stamped on and kicked around the school grounds. A pig is also thought to have been physically abused with sticks, and cows let out of their pens.

The incident happened last Thursday (28 December).

Swale Academies Trust principal Jon Whitcombe told The Daily Mail: "The young farmers here are devastated by what the animals had to experience, seeing the carnage these youths have been responsible for."

Oliver Howland, the farm site manager at the school, told Kent Live: "Things like this have happened in the past. Individuals have come into the farm and trespassed before.

"There are some young farmers who come up to that farm and young students who help some almost every day. They do fantastic work and it’s devastating."

Last year, a conference said that the future of agriculture and food production lies with young people, and that 'school farms' are important in building up passion.