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SLAUGHTERHOUSE SHOCK
‘Barbaric’ abattoir worker caught on secret camera kicking and knee dropping pigs and sheep
Evil Anthony Bagshaw, 36, jailed for string of offences that took place at family slaughterhouse in Leek, Staffs
A CRUEL slaughterhouse worker has been jailed after he was caught on camera kicking and hitting pigs and sheep before they were killed.
Evil Anthony Bagshaw, 36, was filmed grabbing the animals by the head or neck and was even seen throwing one sheep against a metal gate.
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A court heard he also kicked pigs in the face and hit a sheep on the head with a metal bolt over a period of eight months between August 2014 and March last year.
Bagshaw even hit knocked one sheep out by hitting it on the head with a stun gun.
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Shocking footage filmed from undercover cameras set up by Hillside Animal Sanctuary show him grabbing a helpless sheep by its neck before throwing it backwards.
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He also hits another sheep over the head with a metal shackle and stamps on a different animal's head after trapping it in a corner in the upsetting 7:11 min clip.
The offences took place at an abattoir which was attached to the family's butchers, S Bagshaw and Sons in Butterton, near Leek, Staffs.
Secret cameras were installed inside the abattoir by Hillside Animal Sanctuary, after a tip-off about the way livestock were being treated.
Bagshaw, of Butterton, pleaded guilty to 24 offences including seven food safety offences, nine animal welfare offences and three animal movement offences.
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He also failed to comply with regulations putting public health at risk.
The slaughterman, who had over 20 years' experience, was jailed for ten months at Stafford Crown Court on Monday.
He was also banned from owning, keeping or transporting any farmed animals for 15 years.
Sentencing him, Judge Jonathan Gosling said: "There is no doubt you were aware of the regulations.
"The breaches are all concerned with public health and safety and animal welfare.
"You disregarded these requirements over a long period. Many of your offences put public health at serious risk.
"The most serious offences are those against public safety.
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"You quite deliberately put meat into the chain without any veterinary inspections.
"All could have been declared unfit for human consumption.
"You caused unnecessary suffering to animals. You hit a sheep over the head with such force it collapsed unconscious.
"It may have regained consciousness before it went through the slaughtering process.
"There were other instances of hitting animals. It was wanton cruelty."
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The court heard Hillside Animal Sanctuary received an anonymous tip-off in February 2014.
Prosecutor Naomi Gilchrist said they entered the premises in August 2014 to set up covert cameras.
The cameras were replaced every week until January last year when the matters were reported to the authorities.
Miss Gilchrist said: "The defendant was licensed to slaughter animals but in relation to certain animals he had no such licence.
"His slaughterhouse was not licensed to slaughter pigs and he knew that."
The footage captured Bagshaw butchering a pig which was slaughtered illegally and without inspections by a vet.
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Miss Gilchrist added: "He was an experienced slaughterman. He knew what the rules and regulations were.
"He intentionally breached them."
Stephen Welford, defending, said the family business was established more than 100 years ago but ceased trading when matters came to light last year.
He added that Bagshaw had slaughtered tens of thousands of animals over more than 20 years and in the main he complied with regulations and acted appropriately.
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Today, a spokesperson for Hillside Animal Sanctuary said: "Hillside are encouraged to hear that Anthony Bagshaw has been sentenced to a custodial term of 10 months in prison and banned from keeping, owning, transporting or delivering farm animals for 15 years.
"Over the last 20 years Hillside's Farm Animal Investigations have highlighted a great many cases of animal cruelty and neglect right across the country.
"To our great disappointment, the vast majority of these have not been treated seriously by the Authorities.
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"We are pleased that today an appropriate sentence was handed down and we hope this will go some way to discourage others who may be involved in animal cruelty.
"It is worth noting that, had Hillside's Farm Animal Investigation team not been able to obtain the harrowing evidence of barbaric cruelty happening behind the closed doors of this high class family slaughterhouse, it would still be going on right now.
"We hope the FSA will rise to the challenge of their role, which is so vital in protecting farm animals the dreadful abuse that is all too common in the farming industry."
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The investigation was jointly carried out by Staffordshire County Council, the Food Standards Agency and Defra.
The council's trading standards leader Gill Heath said: "His treatment of animals was shocking and it is absolutely right that he has been banned from keeping animals for so long."
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