A West Yorkshire man has been ordered to pay costs and fines over £5700 after he admitted killing a cow illegally.

Thomas Noel Mullin, 65, of Huck Hill farm near Huddersfield, changed his plea to guilty on day one of the trial at Burnley Magistrates’ court on May 18.

The court herd how Mr Mullin, who worked for Northern Fallen Stock of Dalton-in-Furness in Cumbria, had been sent to Westby Hall Farm in Gisburn, Ribble Valley, to deal with a cow that had not responded to veterinary treatment. However Mr Mullin admitted in court he had not held a valid license for slaughtering cattle since the late 1990s.

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On the day of the incident, in 2019, a Lancashire County Council trading standards officers and a government vet (Animal and Plant Health Agency) were present on the farm and witnessed the cow being illegally shot in the back of the head.

Reports state that the cow then ran off, colliding with a parked car, before being brought under control. Mullin then made another failed attempt to stun the cow before killing it while it was showing signs of being conscious. Witnesses described how they were left shocked and stunned by what they had seen on that day.

Sentencing, District Judge Alex Boyd, fined Mullin £750 and ordered payment of court costs totalling £5031.