Cruelty charges dropped against abattoir

Charges against an abattoir which used “disgusting, appalling and totally illegal” practices have been dropped by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Shocking footage

Despite shocking video footage, which was secretly taken at the Red Lion Abattoir in Nantwich, the CPS has claimed there is “insufficient evidence” against the two owners.

Hillside Animal Sanctuary provided 150 hours of footage, over an eight-week period, which showed “animal welfare breaches occurring daily”.

This included horses being hit by an iron rod and crammed in to the slaughter pens in groups, while one horse was seen struggling while hung upside down.

‘Sloppy’ prosecution

The abattoir was closed down in April, however father and son Derek Lesley Turner (80) and Derek William Turner (41) denied seven charges of ‘permitting horses to sustain avoidable excitement, pain or suffering’.

Agricultural lawyer David Kirwan who represented the defendants claimed the prosecution was “sloppy and shambolic”.

Insufficient

“The CPS was exclusively reliant on covert video footage obtained illegally by a non-regulatory body,” he said. “There was no evidence that suggested that the Turners, who do not appear in any of the footage, knew what was happening let alone ‘permitted’ it as they were accused of.”

The case was dropped on 27 October due to “insufficient evidence” against the Turners. In addition, the CPS stated a prosecution against the three Polish workers shown in the video was “not in the public interest”. It is believed they have now returned to Poland.

Get away with it

Wendy Valentine at Hillside said she was “extremely disappointed” that the charges have been dropped.

“Hillside’s investigators put themselves at considerable personal risk in order to obtain evidence of extreme cruelty to horses and other animals at the slaughterhouse,” she said.

“This case shows once again that UK animal welfare laws are simply not upheld, leaving animal cruelty and neglect to run rife while its perpetrators get away with it time and time again.”