A farmer will not be allowed to keep animals while she waits to be sentenced after hundreds of animals died on her farm.

Sue Smith managed to avoid jail again months after she was found guilty of 36 counts of animal cruelty, neglect and other animal offences.

But, in an unusual move, frustrated Judge Martin Picton, imposed his own bail conditions that went further than being asked of him - to make sure she is not allowed to keep animals, BristolLive is reporting .

The 60-year-old has eight weeks to sell or give away her menagerie of farm animals at Ingst Manor Farm in South Gloucestershire.

Warning: the images below and in the video may be distressing to some readers.

Judge Picton heard that twice before her farm had been cleared of dead and dying animals - only for her to restock.

The case was described by the RSPCA as 'one of the worst ever seen' by the charity, after inspectors, environmental health officers and Government animal welfare officers were forced to mount a two-week long rescue operation.

And the judge who found her guilty labelled what happened there 'a total animal welfare disaster'.

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The case began after the RSPCA found hundreds of dead and dying animals at the farm in the village of Olveston with dead horses, pigs, sheep, chickens and cattle lying around, being eaten by other animals.

In one heartbreaking scene, those going into the farm found lambs alive, lying on the bodies of their mothers, mud six inches deep covering the decaying bodies of other animals, and goats that had starved to death.

Smith was due to be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on Thursday morning at the end of a prosecution that first began in 2015, and climaxed with her being found guilty by a district judge at Bristol Magistrates' Court in May.

A cow struggling to stand

But her barrister made a last-minute application that she would be appealing against her convictions.

She had been convicted of a total of 36 charges of animal cruelty, neglect, failing to dispose of dead animals, failing to register births and deaths and not keeping animals in proper conditions by a judge at a magistrates court in May, following a length legal process that had already taken two years at that point.

The charges related to a case brought by both the RSPCA and the environmental health enforcers at South Gloucestershire Council.


Smith lives at Ingst Manor Farm, a large farm on the side of the M48 motorway in the village of Olveston, around five miles north west of Bristol.

But after deciding that he could not sentence Smith, and any punishment would have to be put on hold to see if she wins or loses her appeal, Judge Picton was told the appeal might not be heard until March next year, and there were still animals on the farm now.

Since her convictions earlier this year, neighbours and local residents have called for something to be done about the animals still there.

After the farm was cleared of animals following the 2015 investigation, and again last year, Smith restocked.

But the RSPCA and South Gloucestershire Council said they were powerless to stop her, because an order banning her from keeping animals would be part of her sentence - and that kept being deferred.

Just last month, Bristol Live reported that neighbours and local residents were still reporting seeing what appeared to be emaciated pigs, dead animals on the farm, and pigs that were escaping and causing havoc in neighbouring gardens and farms.

A dead horse at the farm

Upon hearing that this would happen again, prosecuting counsel Hazel Stevens made an application for a condition to be imposed on Smith's bail - that she is not allowed to acquire any more animals.

That was unopposed by Smith's defence counsel. The court was told the Smith is in the process of disposing of some of her animals and 'only has' 14 sheep, four goats, nine dogs, five cats and 30 mature pigs and piglets.

Upon hearing the numbers of animals involved, Judge Martin Picton made his own bail condition that went further than the one suggested by the prosecution.

A dead goat found at the farm

"I read a large part of Judge Matthews's [the district judge who found Smith guilty] report into why she found the defendant guilty," said Judge Picton.

"I read the psychiatric reports on this defendant and am aware of statements from neighbours about the conditions at the farm more recently.

"Looking at all these matters, I am quite sure this defendant, if she is allowed to own or allow farm animals to be on her farm, there is an overwhelming risk of reoffending," he added.

Judge Picton ordered that the bail conditions are changed to not permit Smith to own any farm animals, and for her to be given eight weeks to arrange their disposal.

"Two months from today, there must be no animals on that farm," he ordered.