Caught on camera: 'Medieval' animal cruelty by farmers' market couple

Colin Chambers, who sells meat at markets throughout the East Riding under the Black Sheep Meat Company banner, and his wife Katherine, were fined 21,000 and banned from keeping animals for five years after a hearing before Hull magistrates.

Inspectors found dead and dying animals during visits and several animals had to be put down on the spot to end their suffering. On one visit a pile of dead cows was discovered including one which had died during calving; on another a sheep that was alive was found on top of a pile of dead ones.

The alarm was raised after a tip-off from a member of the public who discovered carcases of sheep lying in fields on land the Chambers' farm at Rudston in November 2008.

Magistrates heard that food safety officers had described the farm as "positively medieval".