Overview
- Mansfield Magistrates' Court on September 18 handed Lee Hayes a 12‑month suspended sentence and barred him for life from keeping animals after he admitted 25 Animal Welfare Act offences.
- Tammy Heath pleaded guilty to two offences, receiving a 13‑week sentence suspended for 12 months, a five‑year ban on keeping dogs, and an order to complete 200 hours of unpaid work.
- Judges granted the RSPCA £664,650 in costs against Hayes, with recovery expected to be pursued through the High Court if necessary.
- A deprivation order covers the remaining animals at Croftfield Farm, understood to be around 200, requiring Hayes to detail those still under his control and giving him six weeks to rehome them.
- The case stems from a November 1, 2023 operation that removed 455 animals across 19 species with help from seven partner charities; several were euthanised for welfare reasons and many have since been rehomed.