The horse trader facing charges of animal cruelty said his animals were not suffering and claims the trial has ruined his business.
James Gray gave evidence for the first time this week and said that although his relatives were also charged with animal cruelty, he was the sole owner and had responsibility for the horses and land.
Gray, 45, said a police statement he gave in April last year which indicated his wife and two daughters, plus another teenage boy, were involved in the care of the equines, was given when he was ‘on strong medication’.
He said: “I was not very well at all. I was confined to Harlow House in High Wycombe. They wanted to section me. My wife didn’t care for them, she is frightened of horses.
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James Gray told a court yesterday that it was common for horses to “drop down dead”.
Gray, 45, of Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Buckinghamshire, said some of the animals found on his land had died without warning or displaying any sign of illness.
And he said some corpses, which were left lying on his property for several days, were “family pets” which he was waiting to bury.
The James Gray trial is being held at Bicester Magistrates’ Court, in Oxfordshire. He is being tried alongside his wife Julie Gray, 41, his daughters Jodie Gray, 26, and Cordelia Gray, 20, and another person who cannot be named.
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A HORSE trader accused of animal cruelty told a court today none of the animals found dead at his farm had shown signs of being “depressed or ill” before their deaths.
James Gray, the owner of Spindles Farm in Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, said he had never experienced a loss of animals like the one he had before an RSPCA inspection of the farm in January last year.
The 44-year-old said he had sole responsibility for the welfare of the horses, donkeys and ponies – and told Bicester Magistrates’ Court two of his co-accused are “frightened” of the animals.
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COURT was today told hundreds of horses had to be removed from a farm after “overwhelming evidence of unreasonable suffering” was discovered there.
An expert witness in the trial of five people accused of mistreating horses at Spindles Farm, Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, was grilled for a second day by defence counsel.
All five defendants were at Bicester Magistrates Court today to hear Veterinary expert Peter Green dismiss claims more than 100 horses could have been treated on the farm on the weekend of January 4 and 5 last year.
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A MAN accused of cruelty to horses has been told he has to turn up earlier for court every day, after failing to attend at all yesterday.
Yesterday the trial of five people accused of cruel treatment of horses on Spindles Farm in Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, was held up after none of the defendants showed up.
James Gray, who is accused of 12 offences under the Animal Cruelty Act, told Bicester Magistrates Court was being examined by a doctor for depression.
The 46-year-old today had a condition put on his bail meaning he has to arrive at court or make contact with an official by 9.30am.
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