Father and son sentenced for cruelty

A man previously convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a horse, has been sent to prison after pleading guilty to 14 charges of cruelty to animals.

Emaciated state

The RSPCA and Norfolk Trading Standards brought a joint prosecution against David Bickell (45) and his son William Bickell (17) of of North Creake, Norfolk. The pair pleaded guilty to a number of offences against sixteen equines, three cattle, 18 pigs and two dogs.

The plight of the animals was first brought to the attention of World Horse Welfare, who received a call from a member of the public in December 2013. The charity’s field officer Jacko Jackson and Trading Standards officer Paula Cooper visited the site where they found a number of animals in an emaciated state.

Put to sleep

“The condition these animals were found in was truly terrible,” said Jacko. “One colt in particular, a piebald yearling named Eric, stands out in my mind. Even through his winter coat you could see that he was emaciated, with a body condition score of just zero. Eric was very quiet and weak, stumbling in walk, and sadly had to be put to sleep for welfare reasons.”

Four ponies were immediately taken into the care of World Horse Welfare’s Hall Farm Rescue and Rehoming Centre, while Redwings Horse Sanctuary took in an Arab stallion. The two donkeys went to the Donkey Sanctuary.

Prison sentence

A further nine ponies, all in poor condition, were removed from several different sites in North Norfolk and taken into World Horse Welfare’s care at a later date.

David Bickell admitted 14 charges and was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment by the judge, who said he was “not fit to be anywhere near animals”. William Bickell admitted 13 charges and was ordered to pay £85 costs plus a £15 surcharge, and given a six-month referral to the Youth Offending Team.

Low standards

“This prosecution is the culmination of a lot of hard work from all the agencies involved,” said Jacko. “Despite returning three times to the properties operated by Mr Bickell and his son and giving them the opportunities to rectify their care of their animals, we found further offences on every visit.”

“The worrying thing is that it did not just involve equines. The very low standards also applied to pigs, cattle and dogs.”

Although three of the ponies rescued by the World Horse Welfare have since died, the remainder made a good recovery. One mare has already been rehomed, while a two-year-old cob called Dibble took part in the farm’s summer showing event.