On Friday, Maurice Rainey, a dishonoured farmer from Co Antrim, received a 20-month sentence due to his neglect of his cattle. He had allowed his livestock to endure severe starvation and dehydration, resulting in numerous deaths in his herd. Judge Fiona Bagnall ruled that Rainey should spend half of his sentence incarcerated and the other half living under supervised licence conditions.
The 62-year-old farmer was criticised by Judge Bagnall for his second incidence of severe animal neglect that led to euthanisation. Given the prolonged suffering endured by his animals, the judge emphasised the need for a deterring judgment in this instance.
Rainey’s farm, with its emaciated living animals and decomposing corpses, was described as highly distressing by Judge Bagnall. She emphasised the farmer’s responsibility towards his livestock, and berated him for prioritising his own needs over their welfare.
In June the previous year, Rainey, who lives in Randalstown on Church Road, Rosebank, confessed to multiple offences. His offences, committed during a week in March, included causing unnecessary harm to six cows and not disposing properly of animal corpses.
When delivering her sentencing remarks on Friday, Judge Bagnall summarised the disgusting conditions of Rainey’s farm that had been reported to the veterinary services on the 6th of March. Inspectors who visited his farm were confronted with a gruesome scene, including multiple carcasses at different stages of decay, severely malnourished and dehydrated cattle, and cows with access to hazardous materials and visible, untreated injuries. Several cows had to be put to sleep, with some left to decompose where they had fallen.
The defence claimed that Rainey’s deteriorating mental health, established in recorded documentation, was a contributing factor to his neglect.
In court, it was revealed how Rainey’s predicament arose from a failed TB test which disallowed him from selling livestock from his herd. The issue was further escalated as Rainey procured low-grade silage. The presiding Judge Bagnall acknowledged mitigating circumstances based on the medical evidence and took into consideration character references for Rainey which presented him as a kind-hearted, responsible father and grandfather, who did not purposefully commit the offences. Nonetheless, the judge emphasised that this does not absolve the extreme distress experienced by the defenseless animals under his care. The previous convictions on similar charges in 2018 also could not be ignored.