A farm worker caught on undercover camera footage repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with a pitchfork while suffering mental health difficulties has been spared an immediate jail sentence.
asserted
worker → catch → sentence
Steven Woolger, 48, was warned at a hearing in June that he faced a possible jail sentence after he admitted eight animal cruelty offences.
But District Judge Matthew Bone today gave him a 17-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after being told that he had mental health issues at the time of the sickening abuse.
Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court heard how animal rights activists had placed hidden cameras at the boar stud farm where Woolger was working at Burgh Castle, Norfolk.
The 781 hours of secret filming included clips of him mistreating the animals at the Innovis Gene Centre East premises between May and September 2024.
The covert footage was handed over by Animal Justice Project to Norfolk Trading Standards, which brought the prosecution.
uncertain
which → warn → prosecution
Lizzie Baker, prosecuting, said Woolger had caused unnecessary suffering to pigs in his care by kicking them, and hitting them with a pitchfork and a plastic pipe on multiple occasions.
asserted
Woolger → prosecute → occasions
Steven Woolger, 48, was admitted eight animal cruelty offences and was today given a suspended 17-week prison sentence
She added that Woolger, who had no previous convictions, ‘should have known that a pitchfork was not an appropriate implement’.
Debbe Reynolds, defending, said: ‘He had been employed at the company since 2013.
asserted
He → admit → 2013
He had up to this point, an impeccable record.’
asserted
He → have → record
But she added that Woolger’s wife had suffered a heart attack from pre-eclampsia after their child was born premature in April 2024 weighing just 4lbs, after she had an earlier miscarriage.
asserted
she → add → miscarriage
She said: ‘His mental health and the stress levels he was under were sky high at that time.’
asserted
he → say → time
Ms Reynolds said Woolger returned to work as the sole breadwinner for his family after the birth, leaving him ‘fraught, exhausted and under pressure’ and suffering from PTSD.
asserted
Woolger → say → PTSD
She added: ‘It is accepted that working practices on the farm were not ideal.
asserted
practices → add → farm
He was a stockman doing the best he could in exceptional circumstances.
uncertain
he → do → circumstances
‘He had raised concerns about lack of equipment and gates not opening in the right directions, but was met with comments like “We don’t have the funds” or “We won’t pay for that”.
asserted
We → raise → that
Secret footage showed the farm worker repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with a pitchfork
‘
asserted
worker → show → pitchfork
He knows he has done wrong and is full of remorse.
asserted
he → know → remorse
In interview, he said he was disgusted at how he had behaved.
asserted
he → say → interview
‘But, during that time, he was struggling with mental health and trying to make the best of a difficult situation.
asserted
he → struggle → situation
He made full admissions.’
asserted
He → make → admissions
Ms Reynolds said Woolger’s marriage had now ‘stumbled’ and he was estranged from his wife.
asserted
he → say → wife
The defendant, of Great Yarmouth, admitted four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to pigs on May 25, August 31, September 7 and September 21 in 2024, and four charges of failing to ensure their welfare needs.
uncertain
defendant → admit → needs
The court heard today how he had lost his job after the offences were revealed and was now living on benefits while looking for work.
asserted
offences → hear → work
District Judge Bone told him: ‘These were deliberate acts committed on more than one occasion over a period of time.
asserted
These → tell → time
You occupied a position of responsibility.
asserted
You → occupy → responsibility
‘The offending occurred repeatedly over an extended period involving multiple animals in a commercial farming environment and was a breach of your responsibility to provide care.’
Imposing the suspended prison sentence, District Judge Bone said he took into account Woolger’s ‘personal circumstances and evidence of PTSD, stress and anxiety’ as well as his early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions.
asserted
he → occur → convictions
PIctured: a farm worker caught abusing a pig at the facility
A pig at Innovis Gene Centre (GTC) East - a boar breeding farm in Norfolk
He also said he accepted he had family responsibilities, was willing to engage with services and had a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.
asserted
he → picture → rehabilitation
District Judge Bone said that the Government had stated that jail sentences of less than a year should be suspended unless there were special circumstances but he stated that there were no such circumstances in this case.
He also disqualified Woolger from working with or having any involvement in farm animals for ten years, and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £1,500 and a surcharge of £154
Ayrton Cooper, campaigns director for Animal Justice Project, earlier described Woolger’s prosecution as ‘a significant moment for animal protection and accountability within British farming’.
asserted
Cooper → say → farming
He added: 'Our investigators documented scenes that were deeply distressing and impossible to forget.
asserted
that → add → scenes
This result sends a clear message that no farm, company or individual is beyond scrutiny, and that cruelty behind closed doors can carry serious consequences.'
asserted
cruelty → send → consequences
The Aporia
