Spindles Farm
Encyclopedia
Spindles Farm was a farm in Hyde Heath
, near Amersham
, Buckinghamshire
, England
, run by horse dealer James Gray (also known as Jamie Gray). It was the location of a significant animal cruelty case in 2008 where dozens of horse
s were neglected, some being left to starve to death. The incident was described as "the worst case ever experienced by the RSPCA" by the judge at the resulting court trial.
A large scale rescue operation was mounted by the RSPCA along with World Horse Welfare
and Redwings Horse Sanctuary
and took eight days to complete, due to the number of horses involved and their condition.
On 12th and 13th January 2008,
115 equines were removed from the property, with others having to be put down on site.
For two days on the 12 & 13 January 2008, a nine year old girl called Katy Roberts who has hemiplegia held a silent protest outside the gates of Spindles Farm in protest at the cruelty that had, at that time, been alleged to have taken place there, and later protested outside the hearing at Aylesbury Magistrates court and set up a website detailing events.
James Gray's son, James Junior, was also convicted on identical charges to his father, although with a sentence of an 18 month supervision order and a ten year ban on keeping horses. His wife, Julie, and daughters Jodie and Cordelia were also found guilty of two counts of failing to protect the animals, all being sentenced to 10 year bans on keeping horses and community service.
The family appealed their sentences in May 2010, but James Gray, his wife and daughters all had their convictions upheld. James Junior was acquitted of two offences, but was found guilty of all the remaining offences.
James Gray absconded court while awaiting sentencing on 12 May 2010 and went on the run, with a warrant issued for his arrest. He was arrested 2 weeks later on 26 May, during a random spot check by police between junctions 4a and 5 on the M5 near Bromsgrove
, Worcestershire
.
Hyde Heath
Hyde Heath is a village in the parish of Little Missenden, in Buckinghamshire, England. It is located in the Chiltern Hills, near Little Missenden.The hamlet name refers to the value of the estate that once stood there...
, near Amersham
Amersham
Amersham is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt....
, Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, run by horse dealer James Gray (also known as Jamie Gray). It was the location of a significant animal cruelty case in 2008 where dozens of horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
s were neglected, some being left to starve to death. The incident was described as "the worst case ever experienced by the RSPCA" by the judge at the resulting court trial.
Animal cruelty discovery
Inspectors from the RSPCA visited the farm on Friday 4 January 2008 to discover more than 125 horses, ponies and donkeys in a state of neglect at the farm, with a further 32 dead equines also found amongst those horses still alive.A large scale rescue operation was mounted by the RSPCA along with World Horse Welfare
World Horse Welfare
World Horse Welfare is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and Scotland that was previously named The International League for the Protection of Horses . Anne, Princess Royal is its patron.-History:...
and Redwings Horse Sanctuary
Redwings Horse Sanctuary
Redwings Horse Sanctuary is a registered charity that provides a home for rescued horses, based in Norfolk, England.-Aims:According to RHS, their "primary purpose is to provide and promote the welfare, protection and care of horses, ponies, donkeys, and mules that have suffered from maltreatment,...
and took eight days to complete, due to the number of horses involved and their condition.
On 12th and 13th January 2008,
115 equines were removed from the property, with others having to be put down on site.
For two days on the 12 & 13 January 2008, a nine year old girl called Katy Roberts who has hemiplegia held a silent protest outside the gates of Spindles Farm in protest at the cruelty that had, at that time, been alleged to have taken place there, and later protested outside the hearing at Aylesbury Magistrates court and set up a website detailing events.
Court action
In June 2009, the owner of the farm, horse trader James John Gray (Jamie Gray) was sentenced to six months imprisonment, fined £400,000 and banned from keeping horses for life, the maximum penalty available to the court for the nine cases of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and two charges of failing to protect animals from pain, injury, suffering and disease.James Gray's son, James Junior, was also convicted on identical charges to his father, although with a sentence of an 18 month supervision order and a ten year ban on keeping horses. His wife, Julie, and daughters Jodie and Cordelia were also found guilty of two counts of failing to protect the animals, all being sentenced to 10 year bans on keeping horses and community service.
The family appealed their sentences in May 2010, but James Gray, his wife and daughters all had their convictions upheld. James Junior was acquitted of two offences, but was found guilty of all the remaining offences.
James Gray absconded court while awaiting sentencing on 12 May 2010 and went on the run, with a warrant issued for his arrest. He was arrested 2 weeks later on 26 May, during a random spot check by police between junctions 4a and 5 on the M5 near Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove
Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England. The town is about north east of Worcester and south west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 with a small ethnic minority and is in Bromsgrove District.- History :Bromsgrove is first documented in the early 9th century...
, Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
.