Man who killed 79 piglets in belly flop video is jailed

The piglets were all less than 4 weeks old when they were crushed to death in January 2016

A Spanish farm worker who shared a video of himself diving onto a pen of piglets, killing dozens, has been jailed for 15 months for aggravated animal abuse.

It is believed 19 piglets were crushed immediately and a further 60 were put down because of their injuries.

Police said the man, aged 19 at the time, dived into the pen three times.

The man, and a colleague who filmed the incident, were ordered to pay €60 (£54; $70) each per pig.

The fines - a total of €4,470 (£4000; $5300) each - were paid to the farm.

Both men were also banned from working with animals for three and a half years.

The pigs were aged between 19 and 27 days old and were being transferred to a weaning room when the incident took place in January 2016 in Huércal-Overa, Almería.

The video was shared widely on web messaging service Whatsapp.

Spanish police released graphic photographs of the crushed pigs.

"I had no intention of causing any injuries, I did not kill any animals, I was smaller, I was 19 years old and I jumped on the animals but they moved away," the defendant, known only by his initials DAA, said.

DAA said his colleague did not know what he was about to do when he asked him to film it.

The judge said the man treated the pigs like a trampoline or swimming pool when he jumped on them, local media reported.

DAA apologised to the farm, but labelled the incident "childish antics" and denied that any pigs died.

The defence claimed that police photographs showed animals younger than the pigs in the video.

The farm's vet disputed DAA's statements.