Amersham Horses

A horse trader found guilty of animal cruelty was today sentenced to six months in prison and banned from keeping horses, ponies and donkeys for life. James John Gray (45) was also ordered to pay £400,000 costs.

His son, James Gray Junior (16), was ordered to complete an 18-month supervision order and banned from keeping equines for 10 years.

Wife Julie Gray (42) and daughters Jodie Gray (26) and Cordelia Gray (21) were ordered to complete 150 hours of community service and were banned from keeping equines for 10 years. Julie Gray was ordered to pay £750 in costs and Cordelia and Jodie Gray were ordered to pay £500 each in costs.

James Gray and his son James Gray Junior were found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to 40 equines on Friday 8 May after a 12-week trial, brought by the RSPCA. Along with wife Julie Gray and daughters Jodie Gray and Cordelia Gray they were also found guilty of failing to meet the welfare needs of 114 equines.

The family was prosecuted after RSPCA inspectors discovered more than 100 horses, ponies and donkeys and the bodies of a further 32 equines at Spindle Farm near Amersham between Friday 4 and Wednesday 9 January 2008.

RSPCA inspector Kirsty Hampton said: “The RSPCA is pleased that the district judge has recognised the extent of the cruelty, neglect and the suffering endured by the animals in this case. We see the disqualifications from keeping horses as an effective measure to prevent animals suffering in the future.”

Inspector Hampton described the conditions that the horses were kept in as ‘grotesque’.

She said: “When we arrived at the farm we were confronted with an extremely distressing scene. The stench of decomposition and urine was overpowering. The sight of horses left in such a miserable state will stay with me forever and I hope I never have to see animals treated with such little care and compassion again.”

Officers from World Horse Welfare, Redwings Horse Sanctuary, vets and Thames Valley Police worked alongside the RSPCA in very difficult conditions to rescue the surviving animals from the terrible scene.

Many of the animals had little food or dry bedding and were crammed into pens, ankle deep in faeces. Other horses had simply been left to die where they fell and then, surrounded by their companions, decomposed. Further carcasses were discovered in surrounding fields, some burned on bonfires, and there was a pile of bones and a skull against an outbuilding.

District Judge Andrew Vickers said of James John Gray at today’s hearing at Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court: “I know you have a strong background with equines so it is all the more sad that you stand convicted. It is something your father and grandfather would be ashamed of.”

All the defendants had denied all counts of cruelty and neglect. In court, James Gray claimed sole responsibility for the animals and said his wife and one of his daughters were “frightened” of the horses.

He said he ran a limited company dealing in 2,300 to 2,400 equines a year and, of these, “nine or ten” would die. He added that bad weather had been responsible for the wet bedding and “temporary” overcrowding when the RSPCA visited his farm in January 2008. He denied that the horses were poorly fed and housed.

The investigation has been one of the RSPCA’s biggest ever, and just providing care and rehabilitation treatment for the horses has cost the charity more than £850,000.

If members of the public would like to contribute towards the work of the RSPCA and the animals in its care, they should call 0300 123 8000 or visit www.rspca.org.uk/amershamhorses.

A family of horse traders is due to be sentenced on Friday 12 June after being found guilty of animal neglect.

Sentencing is due to take place at Aylesbury Magistrates’ Court at 12pm.

James John Gray (45), his son James Gray Junior (16) were found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to 40 equines on Friday 8 May after a 12-week trial brought by the RSPCA.

Along with wife Julie Gray (41) and daughters Jodie Gray (26) and Cordelia Gray (20) they were also found guilty of failing to meet the welfare needs of 114 equines.

James Gray, his wife Julie, son James Gray Junior and daughter Cordelia are from Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Cordelia’s sister, Jodie Gray, is from Park Road, Ashford, Middlesex.

The verdict on the Amersham trial is due to be heard at 10am on Friday 8 May at Bicester Magistrates’ Court.

The defendants are:

* James John Gray (aged 45)
* Julie Gray (41)
* Jodie Gray (26)
* Cordelia Gray (20)
* A juvenile, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

James Gray, his wife Julie, and daughter Cordelia are from Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Buckinghamshire. Cordelia’s sister, Jodie Gray is from Park Road, Ashford, Middlesex.

All five defendants pleaded not guilty to a total of 12 charges each of neglect and cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 (one offence was dropped during the trial,) brought by the RSPCA.

the trial for RSPCA v James John Gray, Julie Gray, Jodie Gray & Cordelia Gray of
Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Bucks for cruelty to horses, ponies and donkeys, will begin on 8 December 2008 at Bicester Magistrates Court. The case also involves a juvenile defendant.

At a pre-trial review in Banbury today, District Judge Vickers called for the trial to be listed at Bicester for 10 weeks - from 8-19 December
2008, and then to continue from 12 January - 6 March 2009.

There will be another pre-trial review at 10am on 18 July at Bicester Magistrates Court, which will hear an application by the RSPCA pursuant
to the Criminal Justice Act 2003 to admit the bad character of James
John Gray.

A hearing to decide the immediate fate of 29 donkeys and Shetland ponies owned by the Gray family has resulted in the animals remaining in the care of the RSPCA and other welfare organisations, pending the result of a High Court appeal.

Deputy District Judge Sandeep Kainth, suspended his original court order for the 11 donkeys and 18 ponies to be returned to the family, and for the remaining 82 horses to be sold at auction, in light of representations made by the RSPCA at Oxford Magistrates Court yesterday (14 April).

The matter will now be taken by the RSPCA to the High Court, during which time the whole court order, made on 4 April, will be stayed.

At yesterday’s hearing, James Gray of Spindle Farm, Hyde Heath, Amersham, Buckinghamshire had applied for the RSPCA to immediately return 29 animals that they and other welfare charities have been caring for since police seized them in January 2008.

The RSPCA instead requested for the Deputy District Judge’s case to be stated for purposes of judicial review, and that the order be stayed in the interim period. Judge Kainth found in the RSPCA’s favour.

For the RSPCA, Phillip Havers, QC, said that to enforce the previous order to return the animals would effectively be deciding the outcome of a judicial review before it was concluded. 

He also said that there would be a risk of suffering to the donkeys and ponies if they were returned as donkeys were among the dead animals removed in January.  Also, prosecution vet Robert Baskerville found that one of the donkeys was “considered to be at risk of death within hours or days unless it received urgent specialist treatment.” 

“We are, of course, delighted that the animals will remain in the care of the animal welfare charities for the immediate future and will do all we can to secure their long-term well-being,” said the RSPCA’s Chief Officer Tim Wass.

“We have very real concerns for the welfare of the donkeys, ponies and horses involved, which is why we are asking the Deputy District Judge to explain the original decision.”

Mr Justice Wyn Williams, at the High Court on Friday 14 April, had referred Mr Gray’s application for the immediate return of the donkeys and ponies back to Oxford Magistrates Court, stating that: “by far the most appropriate person to enforce the order is the person who made the order”.

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The court order for the return of the 29 donkeys and ponies, along with the sale at auction of 82 other horses, was made on 4 April 2008 by Deputy District Judge Kainth following an application by the Gray family for their return, under Section 20 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The RSPCA contested this application, and had argued that they should be allowed instead to oversee the rehoming of the animals in order to safeguard their future welfare.

The animals will remain in the care of the RSPCA, Horse Trust, ILPH, and Redwings until the outcome of the judicial review.

The pre-trial review for the RSPCA’s criminal case against James John Gray, Julie Gray, Cordelia Gray and Jodie Gray – along with a 15 year old male – will be heard on 28 April 2008 at Oxford Magistrates Court. They face 12 charges related to section 4 and section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and cover causing unnecessary suffering to and failing to meet the welfare needs of a total of 125 horses, ponies and donkeys, removed from Spindle Farm between 4 and 12 January 2008.