Farmer Maurice Rainey who left his herd of cattle to starve and dehydrate is jailed

Ordering Maurice Rainey to serve half his sentence in jail and half under supervised licence conditions, Judge Fiona Bagnall told the 62-year-old she “cannot ignore the fact” this was the second time that animals had to be euthanised because of his neglect and further that as the animals had clearly been suffering for a protracted period, “it is clear to me…that there must be a deterrent sentence.”

Describing photographs of Rainey’s farm, the starved animals and rotting carcasses as “frankly distressing to look at,” the Antrim Crown Court judge told the defendant it was clear that he had “put his own needs above those of his animals.”

“He is a farmer whose job it was to look after his stock properly,” said Judge Bagnall, but she added that from the facts of the case and the shocking images she had to see, Rainey “could not have been blind to the offences as the animals suffered a slow and painful demise and this would have been obvious to him every day.”

Last June Rainey, from the Church Road, Rosebank in Randalstown, entered guilty pleas to a total of seven offences including six of causing unnecessary suffering to cows and one of failing to hold animal carcasses, all committed between 7-13 March last year.

Summarising the facts of the case during her sentencing remarks today (fri), Judge Bagnall outlined that on 6 March last veterinary services received a complaint about two rotting carcasses on land just outside Randalstown and knowing the land belonged to Rainey, inspectors went to his farm.

She told the court the scene which confronted the vets “can only be described as simply appalling” and included:

• Numerous carcasses in varying states of decomposition;
• Dehydrated and severely emaciated cattle with no access to feed, water or clean bedding;
• Cows which had access to hazardous material;
• Cows housed in an area where there are sharp protruding edges to potentially cause injury;
• At least one cow who had an oozing leg injury and was clearly in pain.

Several cows, including the cow with the oozing injury and two which had body scores of one and 0.5, were so starved and suffering they had to be humanely euthanised and vets also found that essentially, cows had been left to rot where they had died.

According to submissions lodged by defence KC Barry Gibson, there was documented proof that Rainey’s mental health had been deteriorating over the years and due to that and a physical injury, “he couldn’t cope” with the the requirements of farming.

The court heard how a failed TB test meant that Rainey was not able to sell any of his herd, a problem which was exacerbated by him buying a quantity of bad quality silage and by a number of cows being killed by slurry fumes which were pumped into a cattle shed.

Judge Bagnall said she accepted there was mitigation to be found in the medical evidence and also that, as purported in character references, that Rainey is a kind and caring father and grand father who did not intend to commit the offences.

The judge added however that “does not excuse the suffering these poor animals in his care endured” and nor could she overlook the fact that with similar previous convictions in 2018, this is the second time in six years that cattle have been euthanised because of Rainey’s actions.

She said while there was a low risk of further offences due to Rainey retiring from farming, his culpability and the harm he caused were both high so the case called for a jail sentence as well as a ten year ban on keeping or owning animals.

“If the call had been made to the authorities I dread to think how much longer this state of affairs would have went on for,” pondered Judge Bagnall as she jailed Rainey.