Westbrook farmer on cruelty charges (From This Is Wiltshire)

lets hope he suffers as much as the animals did!!

"Farmer Lance Beale appeared at Salisbury Magistrates Court on Monday to face animal welfare charges."

Again??

He should be banned from keeping any animals again.

"Beale’s barrister Andrew Wagstaff told the court that the farmer had indicated to his instructing solicitors he would be denying the charges. "
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Can you all wait until he's convicted before hanging him.

Delbert Molases wrote:
"Beale’s barrister Andrew Wagstaff told the court that the farmer had indicated to his instructing solicitors he would be denying the charges. "
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Can you all wait until he's convicted before hanging him.

Police and animal welfare officials swooped on a farm near Bromham because of concerns about the well being of a large number of livestock.

Police officers were executing a warrant looking for stolen goods at Wyatts Lake Farm at Westbrook on Friday morning when they came across the carcass of a pig.

They found more dead pigs on the farm and called in a RSPCA inspector, a vet from Defra, animal health officers from Wiltshire County Council and environmental health officers from Kennet District Council who spent several hours at the farm checking on the condition of pigs and chickens.

Lance Beale, who grows vegetables at Wyatts Lake Farm, is banned from keeping livestock following a long running court case and said a company, not him, was responsible for the welfare of the animals on the farm.

However, information from Companies House shows he is listed as a current director and company secretary of the said company.

Sgt Andy Peach of Wiltshire Police said the carcasses of about eight pigs were found and one pig, which was lame and malnourished, was despatched by a police firearms officer.

Police assisted colleagues from the other agencies in scattering feed where pigs and chickens were roaming.

Sgt Peach said: “As well as the dead pigs, police officers were concerned about other pigs which appeared to be in a malnourished state.”

No live animals were taken away from the farm, which is home to about 150 pigs, 200 chickens and one sheep.

Police scenes of crimes officers took photographs as part of an investigation that is being led by Wiltshire County Council’s trading standards department.

Two of the carcasses have been sent away for post mortem examination and the county council served an improvement notice on the farm to dispose of the remaining carcasses.

Mr Beale, 58, was not at the farm when the swoop took place but heard about it through a friend who called him.

While he was away from the farm an animal health inspector spoke to him on the phone to tell him that one pig needed to be destroyed or treated and he gave authorisiation for a police firearms officer to destroy it.

No stolen goods were found at the farm and no one has been arrested.

Under the Animal By Products Regulations farmers have to dispose of carcasses in a timely manner either through commercial incineration or commercial rendering.

Carcasses cannot be buried on farms.

John Devlin, Kennet area manager for Wiltshire trading standards, said an investigation had begun into whether offences had been committed regarding the disposal of carcasses or if any had been committed under the Animal Welfare Act.

He also said county council officers would continue to check on the welfare of the pigs at the farm.

On December 29 2005 Mr Beale was banned from keeping livestock for ten years by a judge at Salisbury Crown Court after he was convicted of 14 animal welfare charges relating to sheep he kept at Wyatts Lake Farm between November 2000 to January 2001.

On Tuesday Mr Beale told the Gazette that the remaining pig carcasses had been removed from Wyatts Lake Farm.

He also said: “The farm is owned by my sister but the animals are run by a company called WLF (1981) Ltd. They can consult me for my expertise. I can do the admin for them and write out the paperwork for them but as a banned person I mustn’t have any input into the welfare of the animals.

“The carcasses are an unsatisfactory state of affairs but are not a welfare issue in my view.”

Mr Beale, said he lived “on and off” at the farm, and grows asparagus, raspberries and strawberries there.

He added: “The improvement notices served by the county council was addressed to the company but served to me.

“I felt I was entitled to make a commercial decision on behalf of the company to authorise the destruction of the pig.”

According to Companies House, WLF (1981) Ltd was incorporated on August 29 2003. The registered office is 250 Westbrook (Wyatts Lake Farm) and the company grows vegetables and nursery products.

Mr Beale is listed as current director and company secretary while Elizabeth Jane Grant of The Common, Holt, Trowbridge, is named as a previous director.

The date of the latest accounts is August 31 2004 and on Tuesday of this week Companies House website said the company was dissolved.

Delbert Molases wrote:
"Beale’s barrister Andrew Wagstaff told the court that the farmer had indicated to his instructing solicitors he would be denying the charges. "
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Can you all wait until he's convicted before hanging him.

This bloke's got more previous than Fred West!

we once went up there and there was dead animals, mostly skeletons, he got done then, why dont they just take the farm

"failing to provide a pig with a suitable diet?" he must be a really bad farmer, they eat anything dont they? So he runs his farm with skeleton staff, the feckless loser should face serious charges and never be allowed to keep pigs again.Alternatively he could open a diet clinic for masochists.

"failing to provide a pig with a suitable diet?" he must be a really bad farmer, they eat anything dont they? So he runs his farm with skeleton staff, the feckless loser should face serious charges and never be allowed to keep pigs again.Alternatively he could open a diet clinic for masochists.