CONVICTED (2021) | farmers John Christopher Read, born December 1949, and Sam Read, born 1985, of Prospect Farm, Higher Trethannas, Praze, Camborne TR14 9PQ – committed a string of animal welfare offences. Repeat offender Sam Read and his equally cruel and incompetent father John Read were given an immediate prison sentence and a 10-year ban on keeping farm animals. The Reads had moved from London to Cornwall to set up a smallholding 20 years earlier. But when Cornwall Council’s Animal Health Team visited the farm in December 2020, they found animals kept in unacceptable conditions. Several of the animals were emaciated and one lamb could hardly walk. At a follow-up visit the following month, inspectors found cattle with no food or bedding. Cows kept inside were caked in dung and sheep were covered in mud and shivering from the cold. When a complaint was received in May 2021, inspectors found goats had overgrown hooves and access to dirty water and cattle were being fed poor-quality hay. At a hearing on August 4, 2021, the Reads pleaded guilty to the following charges: Failing to provide cattle with a clean well-drained lying area Failing to protect cattle from dangerous objects Failing to provide geese and ducks with clean litter and adequate light and ventilation Failing to provide a lame lamb with prompt effective treatment Failing to provide six yearling bullocks and heifers with clean well-drained lying areas They received a 19-week custodial sentence and were disqualified from keeping farm animals for 10 years. Both defendants appealed to Truro Crown Court and during mitigation, the court was told that considerable improvements have now been made to the farm and no animals had been treated deliberately cruelly. Kevin Hill, prosecuting for the council, told the court many of the sheep were emaciated and had no quality supplementary feed. The cattle were in poor body condition, kept on high ground and moorland, and had no shelter and no quality hay to eat. The cattle also had access to scrap and collapsed fencing. The poultry were shut in a shed with no ventilation. The court also heard the defendants had been sentenced for similar offences in 2019 and 2020 and so were in contravention of a suspended sentence. Judge Simon Carr said the cruelty had been deliberate and in a commercial context and as such the 19-week custody sentence was appropriate and not appealable. The court also imposed a disqualification order in respect of farmed animals for a period of 10 years. The order was suspended for a period of 28 days to allow the farmed animals to be disposed of. Falmouth Packet ITV News