A FARMING couple who failed to dispose of rotting sheep carcasses have been ordered to pay £2,040 in court penalties.

Kevin Hancock and Rachel Nyland of Forest Road, Bream, admitted a total of 21 offences after an animal health inspector found the dead animals on land they farmed at Oldcroft in Yorkley. 

The officer found one carcass lying in a disused sheep dip, another under a wheelbarrow and one in an open wool sack, and they were so decomposed they had rotted to the bone.

Gloucestershire Trading Standards served a notice on Hancock requiring him to dispose of the carcasses by 5pm the following day, but when officers returned the animals were still on the farmland.

Cheltenham magistrates were told the remains were a disease risk to both livestock and wildlife. 

When interviewed, Hancock claimed that the sheep belonged to his partner Nyland.

Further investigations found that movements of sheep purchased by the couple at local markets had not been reported, as required by regulations brought in after the 2000 Foot and Mouth outbreak. 

The court heard that they were told to produce the records, but they claimed they had been lost.

The couple asked for credit for their early guilty pleas, as well as pointing to a personal issue within the family.

They admitted a range of offences, including failing to dispose of sheep carcasses on land they farmed without undue delay; failing to secure carcasses so they could not be accessed by birds and other animals; failing to comply with a notice requiring the carcasses were secured and removed; failing to report the movement of sheep onto the holding; and failing to keep records relating to sheep movements.

The chairman of the bench said the offences were serious and could have caused the spread of disease.

Both Hancock and Nyland were each given a conditional discharge for 18 months and both ordered to pay £1,000 towards the costs incurred by trading standards in bringing the case and a victim surcharge of £20.

Cllr Nigel Moor, (Con, Stow-on-the-Wold), Cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure, said: “It is disappointing that we’re once again talking about breaches of legislation which could have a damaging effect on the county’s agricultural industry.

“These rules are in place to help prevent the spread of disease and ignoring them is not something that we will put up with.

“This is an excellent result for our tra­ding standards team and should serve as a warning to others that we will not tolerate these breaches.”