Courton Green has been awarded almost £30,000 following animal cruelty claims
A Lincolnshire farmer has been awarded almost £30,000 in damages after being wrongfully accused of animal cruelty offences by the RSPCA.
Courton Green has fought a five-year legal battle, costing around £90,000, against the charges which he said had severely compromised his farming reputation across the local area.
Mr Green was arrested in 2018 after the charity accused him of trying to behead a sheep using the bucket of a tractor. The case rested on the testimony of an inexperienced farmhand who was unaware that dead sheep have their necks broken when being used in animal food. The charity claimed the sheep was still alive at the time.
If convicted of the offence, which was launched as private prosecution by the animal welfare charity, Mr Green who manages 400 cattle and 4,000 sheep on his 315-acre farm in Sleaford, faced jail.
However, following a four-day trial in 2020, Mr Green was cleared of all charges while the judge in the case questioned the RSPCA regarding its legal practises, and Lincolnshire Police's actions.
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At the trial, Judge Peter Veits ruled Mr Green's arrest was unlawful as the police had made: "No attempt … to invite [Mr Green] for interview, he had merely been arrested. Had he been so invited and refused then the necessity of arrest would have been established…"
Following the ruling, Mr Green launched what became a two-year fight for compensation against the force for false imprisonment which was finally resolved when forces was ordered to pay the father-of-three £28,311.
Writing on his blog, Mr Green's solicitor Iain Gould said following his arrest the farmer was in a state of ‘shell shock'.
Mr Gould said: "Mr Green's distress continued at such an intense level that over the next few days he experienced stark suicidal thoughts. Fortunately, he was able to overcome these feelings, but the experience of his arrest and detention left him in a very dark place."
Lincolnshire Police has been contacted for this article.
