A Newry man who had been given a suspended jail sentence for causing unnecessary suffering to cattle has had his conviction overturned on appeal.
Michael Maguire (38), of Carrive Crescent, Cloughoge, successfully appealed his conviction at the County Court, which ordered that the appeal be allowed, the order of the Magistrates’ Court be reversed, and the complaint dismissed.
The decision means that Maguire’s previous conviction – along with all associated penalties – has been set aside.
He had originally been convicted at Newry Magistrates’ Court on March 20 of one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to eight bovine animals.
At that hearing he was disqualified for two years from keeping or owning animals, from participating in keeping animals, from being party to any arrangement under which animals are kept, and from transporting or arranging the transport of farm animals. He also received a three-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £5,000 compensation to the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA).
The case had arisen from the examination of tuberculosis reactor cattle from Maguire’s herd at a slaughter plant. Departmental inspectors reported that TB testing sites on the animals’ necks were, in their view, largely not typical tuberculosis reactions.
TB test sites from nine animals were sent to a veterinary pathologist for post-mortem examination and the pathologist concluded that the test sites from eight animals had been interfered with to cause atypical reactions.
A DAERA senior vet had outlined in the original proceedings how alleged deliberate interference with the animals’ skin caused inflammation and unnecessary suffering, claiming that this suffering was significant and prolonged, with atypical reactions still visible long after the TB test was completed.
However, following the County Court appeal in April, the conviction and all related orders have now been overturned and the complaint dismissed.
