Spared jail, cruel farm apprentice, 18, filmed kicking newborn calves
A FARM worker who threw a newborn calf to the ground and stamped on it repeatedly before kicking its mother in the head was spared jail yesterday.
Owen Nichol, 18, was secretly filmed carrying out the horrific abuse at the dairy farm where he was an apprentice.
In footage filmed covertly by an animal rights charity, he is seen subjecting the cows to a 25minute ordeal, kicking and stamping on a newborn calf seven times, and shouting, ‘I f***ing hate you, you little c***,’ after throwing it to the floor.
The part-time stockman kicked its nursing mother in the face and slammed a metal gate against the animal, which had given birth just two days before.
The video was shot in December by activists from Animal Equality at Pyrland Farm in Taunton, Somerset, following a tip-off. Nichol, of Taunton, was sacked after it emerged. At Taunton Magistrates’ Court, he admitted two charges of animal cruelty, saying he said he had ‘flipped’. He said it was the only time he had mistreated animals in the year he worked at the farm for a college course in agriculture.
Farmer James Read said he was shocked by the footage, but added that Nichol had been an ‘exemplary’ employee.
Nichol admitted his behaviour was ‘disgusting’, blaming it on breaking up from his girlfriend months before and his grandmother’s ill health.
The teenager, who farms sheep with his father, said: ‘If I saw someone doing that to my sheep I would feel like Mr Read does.’
RSPCA prosecutor Lindi Meyer said: ‘He threw a newborn calf to the floor and kicked and stamped on it seven times in a row.’
She cast doubt on Nichol’s claim it
‘He stamped on it seven times’
was a ‘one-off occasion’. Vet Andrew Biggs said the attack was the worst violence he had seen in 35 years.
Mr Biggs, former president of the British Cattle Veterinary Association, said the cows were clearly stressed, adding: ‘The operator has shown totally unacceptable behaviour to these cows and calves.’
Martin Winter, defending, said Nichol’s workload had increased. He was meant to get the calves to suckle, and knew that if he failed they would be euthanased.
Mr Winter added: ‘He was trying too hard, taking things to heart and becoming frustrated. He was in a bad frame of mind. He lost control of the animals and himself.’
Magistrate Dr Peter Reed said: ‘The offence was deliberate and sustained. It involved kicks, stamping, hitting including to the head, and shouting at the animals. These animals did suffer a relatively high level of suffering for a short period.’
Nichol had been warned he could be jailed, but Dr Reed said: ‘You were working beyond your capabilities... unsupervised, doing long shifts and were sleep deprived.’
Nichol was sentenced to 12 weeks’ jail, suspended for a year, and must do a rehabilitation activity for 30 days and 150 hours’ unpaid work.
He was disqualified for two years from owning or keeping farm animals, and must pay a victim surcharge of £115 and £300 contribution towards prosecution costs.
Dr Toni Shephard, of Animal Equality, said he should have been jailed for the ‘disgusting attacks’.