A Dorset farmer has been convicted of cruelty and banned from keeping sheep, following a shocking neglect of dozens of sheep.
Nigel Anthony Turner, 56, of Ryme Intrinseca near Sherborne, pleaded guilty to 19 offences at Weymouth Magistrates Court on 26 January 2026.
This followed a site visit in January 2025, where more than 100 sheep were found to be kept in awful conditions.
The court heard Dorset Council’s Trading Standards service received a complaint about the conditions of sheep in a field at Ansty.
Following a site visit, the investigating officer found 140 sheep on a field with very little grazing and no evidence of supplemental food.
Many of the sheep appeared emaciated and 11 were deceased. The investigator also found one lamb in a water-filled ditch and two ewes very close to death.
The officer immediately contacted a veterinary officer from the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) to attend. One of the distressed ewes had to be euthanised and the lamb later died during examination.
Following the site visit, the vet told the sheep’s owner, Mr Turner, to provide immediate care and shelter to a ewe that was unable to stand. However, when the vet and Trading Standards returned the next morning, the ewe had not been moved and had died.
Several rams were also being kept in the field, which resulted in indiscriminate breeding and some ewes in lamb when they were too young.
The trading standards officer and vet returned to the field on 4 February 2025 and found further welfare issues. Many of the sheep were still emaciated and well below an acceptable condition, while several were not ear tagged – a legal requirement.
Mr Turner was asked to provide movement and medicine records for the sheep but failed to do so.
Following Mr Turner’s guilty plea at Weymouth Magistrates Court on 28 October 2025, the case was adjourned for probation reports and sentencing on 26 January 2026.
Between these dates, further welfare checks found evidence of lame and very thin sheep.
Reflecting the severity of the charges, the court imposed a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months.
Mr Turner was ordered to pay a £154 victim surcharge and £500 contribution towards the prosecution costs within 56 days. He was also banned for owning or keeping sheep for two years.
Cllr Gill Taylor, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Public Health and Prevention said: “The vast majority of livestock keepers in Dorset care passionately about their animals and so it is very disappointing and frustrating when cases like this happen.
“This was an appalling and shocking case of animal neglect, and we will not tolerate such acts of cruelty.
“Our trading standards team will investigate cases like this thoroughly and take steps to ensure they are not repeated.”
