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09
Sept 2021
Ripon man jailed for persistently breaching animal welfare order
A Ripon man has been jailed after pleading guilty to a string of animal welfare offences.
Michael Andrew Hawkswell, 45, of Nunwick near Ripon, appeared at York Magistrates Court on Wednesday, accused of breaching the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which forbids him from keeping animals.
Hawkswell, who is disqualified from keeping or owning animals, was charged with possessing 76 birds and five other offences.
His five other offences included buying and transporting two goats, possessing seven sheep in his trailer, possessing a duck, unloading poultry from a vehicle into sale pens at Highgate auctions in Rotherham and buying and selling poultry.
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Hawkswell was jailed for four weeks to be served consecutively for all six offences and given a further eight weeks for breaching a suspended sentence which was imposed in 2019.
He was handed a 32-week jail sentence in total.
The court also disqualified Hawkswell from owning or keeping goats, poultry, birds and sheep for a period of 10 years under the Animal Welfare Act.
Hawkswell was also disqualified from holding or obtaining a driving licence for 16 months.
Speaking after the sentencing, PC Mark Atkinson, of North Yorkshire Police’s rural task force, said:
North Yorkshire Police said it would now distribute posters highlighting Hawkswell's banning order at livestock marts and other rural businesses.
Animal welfare charity the RSPCA tweeted that the sentence showed breaches of court orders "will not be ignored or tolerated".
https://twitter.com/RSPCA_Frontline/status/1435959153185509379
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