Farmer jailed after 455 animals found in squalid conditions

A Nottinghamshire farmer has been jailed and banned from keeping animals for life after more than 450 neglected animals were rescued from his farm during a major multi-agency operation in late 2023.

Lee Hayes, of Croftfield Farm, Dawgates Lane, Sutton-in-Ashfield, pleaded guilty to 25 offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

On Thursday, 18 September, he was sentenced at Mansfield Magistrates’ Court to 12 months in prison and handed a lifetime ban on keeping animals.

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The RSPCA, supported by more than 100 staff from seven other charities, rescued 455 animals from the farm.

The animals included equines, cows, dogs, exotic pets, rabbits, birds, and small rodents, many of which were suffering from untreated conditions or kept in severely overcrowded and filthy environments.

District Judge Grace Leong described the case as involving “deliberate and sustained” neglect and called the evidence “harrowing”.

She told Hayes: “When the RSPCA and police came, they found no improvements. All the animals were still living in abhorrent conditions and severely neglected, which included unsanitary, overcrowded accommodation; dogs living in faeces and urine; goats with overgrown hooves, equines with thrush; and cats with fleas and flu.”

The court heard that the conditions were among the worst inspectors had seen.

RSPCA Inspector Laura Baker, who led the rescue, said: “The smell of manure hit as soon as you walked through the gate and the sheer volume of animals in dire circumstances was quite overwhelming… There was a very lame cow tied up in one of the barns that was the most broken animal I had ever seen.”

Many of the equines, donkeys, and goats were underweight, suffering from hoof rot or other preventable conditions.

Tammy Heath, Mr Hayes’ partner, also pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences. She received a 13-week suspended prison sentence, a five-year ban on keeping dogs, and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Many of the rescued animals have since been re-homed and are recovering.