Farmer admits cruelty after lamb's eyes pecked out

Selwyn Roberts kept 1,200 sheep on his farm

A farmer has admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to a lamb which had its eyes pecked out by birds after becoming stuck in a fence.

The lamb had to be put down by a vet after it became trapped for two days.

Selwyn Roberts, 56, from Henllan, Denbighshire, pleaded guilty to a total of 15 charges at Caernarfon Magistrates' Court.

Roberts was bailed until next month to obtain a pre-sentence report from the probation service.

He was also charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a sheep and lamb by failing to get veterinary help at a birth, which ended in the deaths of both animals in April 2019.

Other charges included failing to dispose of 20 carcasses, failing to tag sheep, obstructing an officer, breaching farming regulations and not making an annual inventory.

The court heard Roberts kept 1,200 sheep on a 380-acre farm, which had deteriorated due to a probate dispute after his father died in 2014, which had left him unable to withdraw a payment from the Welsh Government last year.