A FARM worker who left pig carcases in the same sheds as live ones and neglected more than 1,700 pigs to the point where some had to be put down has been handed a suspended prison sentence.

Thomas Betney was responsible for the pigs at his family's farm at Green View Lodge, Hamsterley, County Durham, when officials found the animals in squalid conditions on October 31, 2017.

Sitting at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates' Court yesterday, District Judge, Timothy Capstick, heard how officials from Durham County Council were almost ankle deep in pig muck when they conducted an inspection after being contacted by the Environment Agency.

Council solicitor, Stephen Buston, said 45 dead pigs were found in "varying degrees of decomposition" across the nine pig sheds which the live pigs would have had access to.

A further 20 pigs had to be shot and three tankers of pig slurry removed from the site.

Mr Buston said all the pigs were removed and 200 were separated due to their "low body condition".

Following a further inspection on November 3, officials reported that the site had been cleaned up and the remaining pigs were allowed to go into the foodchain.

Betney, 21, pleaded guilty to 17 charges relating to his failure to provide the pigs with a suitable diet, housing and protecting them from pain and as well as failing to comply with his duties and requirements for complying with animal-byproducts.

After being interviewed by a probation officer, the court heard how Betney had undergone a physiological assessment.

He had been running the farm since he was 17 but witnessing the death of a friend in a motorbike accident and being dumped by his long-term partner had left him unable to cope emotionally.

The court was told Betney felt he could not ask for help from his family was later put on medication for stress and depression. He no longer works on the farm but still lives on site.

Simon Catterall, mitigating, said his client had had a "small breakdown and locked himself away" but did not intentionally neglect the animals.

He said Betney no longer worked with the family business and was self-employed as a farm worker.

DJ Capstick said he considered the farm's use of the Red Tractor symbol as an aggravating factor but accepted Betney did not intentionally neglect the pigs.

He sentenced him to eight weeks in prison but suspended it for 12 months with 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days and 100 hours' unpaid work.

He also disqualified him from keeping pigs, cattle and sheep for 12 months and ordered him to pay £2,168.51 in costs and a £115 victim surcharge.