Equestrian plot Sick horses
Inexperienced riders were targeted by trio
Three people have been convicted of running a scam that involved drugging sick and potentially dangerous horses and selling them to unsuspecting buyers.
Equestrian centre partners Charlotte Johnson and Aniela Jurecka and vet David Smith were told to expect jail after being found guilty of conspiracy to con people into buying ‘substandard’ horses.
The animals, priced from £1,950 to £5,700, were drugged at South East Horses, based at Great Thorn Farm in Marden, and at hired land at Duckhurst Farm in Staplehurst, to cover up lameness and other problems.
It’s estimated that hundreds of horses were sold, bringing in potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds for the pair.
In a conflict of interest, Johnson and Jurecka, both 28, used their own vet, 66-year-old Smith, to carry out deliberately “cursory and inadequate” examinations of the horses before they were sold.
Adverts on the internet and in publications such as Horse and Hound targeted novice riders looking for ‘safe’ horses.
Instead, buyers were left with horses dramatically different to what was advertised.
Several customers were thrown and at least one was in hospital for two months with lifethreatening injuries. Others suffered broken ribs and one was left unconscious in a ditch.
Prosecutor Dominic Connolly said: “Those adverts grossly misdescribed horses being offered for sale.
“Representations are made as to their physical wellbeing, calm and placid demeanour and suitability for first-time riders when they had significant behavioural issues which made them entirely unsuitable. On a number of occasions, that resulted in falls and injuries.”
One witness told the trial that a horse advertised as being “cool, calm and collected” and for which she paid £4,000 turned out to be “potentially lethal”.
Text conversations and a raid