News

Swan ‘killers’ in court

Published

7 years ago

March 14, 2017

Swans: The family in Withybush Woods before the shootings (pic. The Herald)

THREE people accused of shooting four swans at Withybush Woods in October last year appeared before magistrates at Haverfordwest Law Court today (Mar 14).

There should have been four people in the dock, however Joseph Lawson, accused of jointly harming a swan with his co-defendants, did not attend court.

Magistrates issued a warrant without bail and hoped he would be brought to court immediately, before officers became aware that Lawson was in Mansfield.

The defendants who decided to show up to the hearing were: 32-year-old Gareth George Mattson of Goshawk Road in Haverfordwest; 24-year-old Benjamin Phillips of Jury Lane in Haverfordwest; and a 13-year-old boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The 13-year-old boy and Phillips both pleaded guilty to the charges against them, however Mattson denied the allegation.

Prosecutor, Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, told the court that a problem with the swans was reported to Maria Evans of the Wildlife Trust. Ms Evans attended Withybush Woods on October 20, and could see a female adult swan was dead, but she was unable to recover it.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “The swan still hasn’t been recovered, and may still be there unless it has been taken away by a predator.”

He explained to the court that the following day, a cygnet had been found on the bank of the lake and was recovered. It was taken to All Pets Vet Care in Milford Haven for a veterinary examination.

At this point, it was still alive.

Mr Pritchard-Jones said: “It had received an injury to its wings. An x-ray taken of its wing showed fragments of an air pellet. The main bone had completely severed and was out of alignment. It had completely snapped.

“There were four or five metal fragments in its wing. It had to be put down, as it was unable to make a recovery.”

Three days later, a male swan was found dead in the same location. This bird was too taken to All Pets Vet Care, and underwent an X-Ray.

Mr Pritchard-Jones explained: “One pellet was in the middle of the abdomen, and one was near the joint of the leg by the hip joint.”

A fourth cygnet was recovered by the RSPCA the following day, which had damage to its wing consisting of a ‘soft tearing injury’.

Mr Pritchard-Jones told the court that there was no pellet found in that cygnet. However the wound ‘could’ have been made by a pellet passing through.

He went on to say that after police had made enquiries, suspicion fell on the four defendants. They made prepared statements, and the police and prosecution pieced together what had happened from these.

There were no eyewitnesses.

Phillips told officers that ‘the plan was to shoot some rabbits’, but they found none, and instead decided to look for ducks to shoot instead.

Mr Phillips said: “The swan was shot and I took a shot to put it out of its misery. I aimed for its head but I missed. The gun was passed around.

“I regret bitterly that I became involved. Things got out of hand. This was not a prank – it was a big mistake.”

The court heard that before the shooting of the swans commenced, there was a discussion about whether it should be done or not. The court heard that the 13-year-old had said: “I think it would be funny as f**k.”

Defending the 13-year-old boy, Katy Hanson, said: “He is only 13 and has no previous convictions. He’s never been in trouble, and it’s incredibly sad to see someone so young here today.

“What he says, is he had gone shooting and assumed that it was okay to have an air rifle. He not got a great knowledge of the law, and trusted adults not to lead him astray.

“He was with three people who were significantly older. They suggested shots should be taken at the swans and the gun was passed to him. He took one shot, and purposefully missed the swan.”

Ms Hanson continued: “He has ADHD and hyperactivity disorder. His mother is horrified by the incident and trusted [the adults] to look after him.

“This has had a huge impact on his life. He had difficulty sleeping and eating. He is in school, and finds things stressful.”

Magistrates imposed a 12 month referral order, and ordered that the 13-year-old pay £85 prosecution costs and £20 victim surcharge.

Magistrates then turned their attention to dealing with Phillips.

A report from the probation service said that he felt an ‘immense’ amount of peer pressure, and that if he was in this situation again he would call the RSPCA.

Defence solicitor, David Williams, said: “My client recognises the immense public disapproval and upset that his participation has caused.

“Phillips took three to four shots to put the swan out of its misery. He did not shoot at any of the other swans, and was not in possession of the gun after he had done what I have described.”

Mr Williams commented on the fact that it has taken five months for the matter to come to court, and explained what has happened in Phillips’ life in that time. He said: “The public disapproval has manifested itself in worse ways.

“On March 10, my client’s family car was vandalised. It had on its bonnet, on one side from front to back and on one wheel arch, obscene words scratched on it. I won’t repeat the obscenities, but one was ‘swan killer’.”

The chair of the bench told Phillips: “This is a difficult and distressing case. The community feel very strongly about the case, and we believe it has crossed the custody threshold.”

Magistrates sentenced Phillips for four months imprisonment, suspended for a total of 12 months. He must complete 150 hours of unpaid work and complete a 15 day rehabilitation activity requirement. He must also pay £85 prosecution costs and £115 victim surcharge.

A trial date for Mattson was set, and will take place on Wednesday, April 19 at 10am at Haverfordwest Magistrates’ Court.

He was released on bail until then, on condition that he made no contact with prosecution witnesses.

Farming

Animal health and welfare workshops help family farm shape future business

Published

13 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

AN eagerness to learn new skills and knowledge is helping mother and son Dianna and Iestyn Spary to continually improve their livestock farming enterprise and build a financially sustainable business fit for the future.

Technical expertise and good business sense are not qualities the Sparys lack since embarking on an impressive number of Farming Connect workshops, covering a range of animal health and welfare topics.

“It’s been an amazing opportunity, we have learned so much that we can apply within the day to day running of our farm and herd, and we can draw on that knowledge as we look at developing new enterprises and diversifications,’’ says Dianna.

She is the fifth generation of her family to farm at Goytre Farm at New Church West, Chepstow, Iestyn the sixth.

Together they farm 110 hectares, running a Hereford-cross beef suckler herd and also rearing beef cattle purchased as baby calves, including more recently British Blues, taking these through to slaughter.

Although they have been immersed in agriculture all their lives, they recognise that it is an industry that is constantly changing as new research and ideas are rolled out and applied.

This is where the Farming Connect workshops have been so incredibly valuable, says Dianna.

“You are never too old to learn, things are changing all the time. If we hadn’t got involved in attending the workshops, we would never have known about some of those new ways of doing things.’’

From learning how to maximise suckler cow productivity and protecting youngstock health to understanding diseases such as Johne’s and bovine TB, the animal health and welfare training workshops have been “enormously valuable’’, she adds.

The pair have tapped into Farming Connect accredited training courses covering areas such as calf management, health and housing, body condition scoring and safe use of veterinary medicines.

“You name it we have done it,’’ says Dianna.

They were announced the winners of the 2023 Farming Connect Animal Health and Welfare Award at the Lantra Cymru Awards in January.

The knowledge gained through Farming Connect workshops and training has helped inform changes in the business.

“We now monitor cattle weights more closely and have introduced different ways of feeding,’’ Dianna explains.

“We have also been revamping all the cattle sheds and have a couple of new ones that will be going up.

“We’ve also invested in calf jackets and if there are any drops in weights, we are more responsive with feed intakes, little things like that.’’

Iestyn has also benefited from a number of sheep-related topics offered through the animal health workshops.

Through the Farming Connect Advisory Service, they have received specialist veterinary advice on their Herd Health Plan with a focus on incoming stock and biosecurity. They have also had guidance on soil health through the soil clinic.

The Sparys largely use traditional farming methods at Goytre Farm where they have several hay meadows.

All feed is produced on-farm. “By doing everything in-house we know exactly what we are feeding and that’s important to us,’’ says Dianna.

That distinctiveness, which sets them apart from some of the more mainstream farming systems, has given them the confidence to consider establishing a diversification into meat box sales, what Dianna describes as a ‘farm to fork’ approach.

Working with a local butcher who has an abattoir licence, they hope to do everything on-site, from slaughter through to hanging the carcass for 28 days, and then selling cuts direct to the consumer.

“We have also spoken to a chef who is going to produce some recipe cards for us to include in the boxes along with a bit of history of where the meat has come from,’’ says Dianna.

Another future project could be converting stone barns in the farmyard to holiday accommodation.

To help focus their minds on their plans, the Sparys will get guidance at a Farming Connect diversification surgery; they have also signed up for a ‘planning a diversification’ training course and will attend a ‘Dos and Don’ts of Diversification’ event in the coming weeks.

For Iestyn, another form of diversification, into agricultural contracting, has provided a secondary income stream.

His customer base is largely farms with smaller acreages with crops that require harvesting or spraying.

Farming Connect has helped with this process too as Iestyn has gained his Level 2 Award in the Safe Use of Pesticides (PA1) and Safe Application of Pesticides Using Vehicle mounted Boom Sprayer Equipment (PA2).

He also offers field maintenance and fencing and works on a neighbouring farm during the lambing season.

This is where Farming Connect has again helped; through the animal health workshops, he has covered modules advising on the prevention of lambing losses and lameness, improving lamb performance post-weaning and parasite controls.

Dianna says the opportunities available through Farming Connect have really helped to drive the family farming business forward.

“We have a good relationship with our local Farming Connect development officer Lisa Powell, she has been brilliant in giving us advice on which courses and workshops are right for us and signing us up for those,’’ she says.

All your achievements, training and knowledge transfer activities are saved within your personal, online Storfa Sgiliau account, the unique, online professional development tool, available for you to view and download at any time from your BOSS (Business Online Support Service) account.

Education

Lib Dem leader meets student union after scrapping of teacher training

Published

17 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Tom Sinclair

Last week, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds visited Aberystwyth University to meet students following the announcement that the University will be scrapping their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) program.

The announcement comes after the publication of an Estyn inspection report last year, which found that the institution had “been too slow” when it came to prioritising student support.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have now called for the University to produce and implement an action plan that will enable the reintroduction of this course at the earliest opportunity, as well as for the Uni to rectify any similar shortcomings in other training programs.

Commenting, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

“Aberystwyth university has long been seen as a cornerstone of education here in Wales, and its role in shaping the future of Welsh-medium education is pivotal.

However, the decision by the Education Workforce Council to withdraw accreditation for their teacher training program now puts this at risk.

The report published by Estyn rightfully identified several flaws in the Uni’s approach to supporting student teachers, along with requiring the University to make significant improvement.

The decision of the EWC suggest that these improvements have not been made.

We are now calling on the University to get their act together, fix the shortcomings in this program and begin plans to reintroduce the course as soon as possible.

Commenting, a spokesperson for the Welsh Young Liberals said: “There was an overwhelming lack of support, especially for Disabled Students, which has been consistent since 2020.

Previous lecturers were always late, and assignments were marked late and inconsistently.

As a joint honours student my timetable is very erratic, and this has an adverse effect on my wellbeing.

This does not however, mean that the course should be cut, Aberystwyth university should be looking to improve the course and help deliver the next generation of teachers.”

Commenting, the Welsh Liberal Democrat PPC for Ceredigion Mark Williams said: “The reputation of Aberystwyth University as a well-respected centre of education is rightfully a source of pride for many residents here in Ceredigion.

This is why it is so dis-heartening to hear that the Uni have failed to take the recommendations in the 2023 Estyn report seriously, leading them into the embarrassing position of losing their accreditation which risks delivering a severe blow to the future of Welsh-medium education.

The lack of foresight from the Uni in this regard is deeply worrying and I hope that, for the sake of both the students and the wider community, they take all the steps needed to restart the course at the earliest opportunity.”