Lance BealeFARMER Lance Beale has been told there is a strong possibility he will be sent to prison after he was convicted of 14 animal welfare offences involving sheep.

District judge Brian Loosley gave his judgement on Tuesday after presiding over Beale's trial. Beale had denied all 19 charges brought against him by Wiltshire County Council trading standards department.

Beale, of Wyatt's Lake Farm, Westbrook, near Bromham, was found guilty of seven charges of causing unnecessary suffering to sheep and lambs on November 20 2000 by not treating them or destroying them after they were attacked by dogs. He was acquitted of one charge.

He was convicted of four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to sheep and lambs by failing to treat or seek veterinary advice for emaciation and lameness and cleared of three charges. These offences occurred on January 19 and 25 2001.

He was also convicted of three offences of failing to dispose of sheep carcasses without undue delay on January 25 2001 and cleared of one charge.

In his verdict Judge Loosley said Beale's sheep which were attacked by dogs suffered "appalling" injuries.

Beale said he shot several sheep who had severe injuries and was going to review other sheep whose conditions he did not believe were serious until later in the day.

Judge Loosley said the sheep found by trading standards animal health inspector Louise Tovey and Ministry of Agriculture vet Ralph Drouin in January 2001 were suffering severe footrot.

Judge Loosley adjourned the case for sentencing until July 5 at Chippenham Magistrates Court. He has asked the probation service to prepare a report.

He told Beale: "I have convicted you on a number of charges, in fact the most serious charges.

"I am considering whether or not I should send you to prison and whether I should disqualify you from keeping animals, and in particular, whether that disqualification should be for all animals.

"Custody is certainly in my mind in this particular case and even if the pre-sentence report is favourable to you, you could end up with a custodial sentence on that day." At the trial the court heard that Mrs Tovey found sheep carcasses in a field and a pond on January 25 2001.

She also found a trailer stacked up with 20 sheep carcasses in varying degrees of decomposition and on the top of the pile was one sheep which was alive.

Beale said he thought the ewe was dead but Judge Loosley said Beale failed to examine the animal properly.

Referring to the sheep Beale was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to after the dog attack, Judge Loosley said: "The sheep were in an absolutely appalling condition and any reasonably caring and reasonably competent shepherd or sheep farmer would have located the sheep, would have examined them and on the facts of this case destroyed them immediately."

John Devlin, Wiltshire County Council's trading standards area manager, said after the judges verdict: "We are pleased we have secured guilty pleas on the vast majority of the offences and in particular the most serious ones."

The court heard that at the time of the offences Beale kept 500 lambs and 200 ewes at Wyatt's Lake Farm, which is owned by his sister.

During the trial the court was told by Beale that he no longer kept sheep and was farming pigs and chickens.

Mr Drouin said after the case: "I wouldn't like the public to think that the standard of farming on Mr Beale's premises was typical of that found on sheep farms in this country. He kept sheep in the autumn and winter of 2000 and 2001 as a business venture."

The court heard Beale had a previous conviction in January 1992 for causing unnecessary suffering to a sheep for which he was fined £425 by magistrates in Melksham.