Horse buyer guilty of defrauding owners

Brooke Lee was convicted after an inquiry by officers from York Council’s Animal Health Services who received complaints about her trading dating from 2010.

Lee, 24, of Roebuck Lane, Otley, was given a nine-month suspended prison sentence after admitting two offences of fraud and one of unfair trading.

She sold a horse for £1,837.50 at a livestock market knowing it was lame. The previous owners had sold it to Lee thinking it would be a companion for a filly.

Four other owners revealed Lee – using different names – had tricked them into letting her take horses believing they would be given permanent homes. One horse was taken to Melton Mowbray, sold for £480 and slaughtered. Lee continued to lie to the previous owner, claiming the horse was still with her in a field.

York Council’s trading standards manager, Matt Boxall, said: “Miss Lee tricked people into giving her their horses – horses which at their stage in life, needed to take things easy. The lies she told led the owners to believe they were doing the right thing for their animals, that they would be loved and cared for forever. Instead they were simply sold on to unsuspecting customers. All of the complainants have described their devastation upon finding out their horses had been treated this way.”

Lee was sentenced on Friday at York Crown Court, sitting at Harrogate Magistrates Court, and ordered to do 220 hours of unpaid work. She was also told to pay £750 in costs.