TWO men who were secretly filmed killing ten goats in a shed were jailed last week for their part in the cruel slaughter.

The animals, bought for an Islamic halal ceremony, should have died quickly from a single cut to the neck.

Barrister Tony Kelbrick, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told Harrogate magistrates' court that an injured finger made it difficult for 67-year-old Isap Lakha to execute the animals properly, and some were left writhing on the floor of the barn, near Londonderry.

Michael Hawkswell, 26, who was to butcher the animals, was filmed slaughtering the goats before dressing them for Lakha. He claimed the meat was for his extended family and not for sale.

Lakha, from Dewsbury, who pleaded guilty last month to charges of cruelty and slaughtering animals without a licence, was jailed for two months.

Hawkswell, from Nunwick, near Ripon, admitted at a court hearing last month that he allowed another person to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal and he used an unlicensed slaughterhouse. Hawkswell was sent to prison for four months.

Both men were banned from keeping animals for ten years.

District judge Roy Anderson said: "The public are entitled to and expect animal welfare legislation to be rigorously enforced, and those who breach the regulations to receive appropriate sentences.

"The degrees of distress inflicted on these animals were considerable, and these offences are so serious only a custodial sentence can be passed in each case."

He said that the halal method of slaughter was not on trial and stressed that Lakha's sentence was because he pleaded guilty to the offences of cruelty and unlicensed slaughter.

After the hearing, the RSPCA's chief inspector Mike Butcher, said he was grateful to the Hill Animal Sanctuary in East Anglia, which had brought Hawkswell to the attention of the animal welfare organisation.

He said: "We are determined to crack down on those who inflict immense suffering by running makeshift illegal slaughterhouses.

"In this case the goats were killed in the most inhumane way without being stunned first.

"The slaughter of farm animals without pre-stunning anywhere other than a licensed abattoir is illegal in the UK and Europe.

"We urge anyone buying meat to check it comes from a reputable source and to report any suspicious activity to the local authority or the police."

* Lakha's lawyer Musa Patel told Teesside Crown Court on Friday that Lakha was not pursuing a plan to appeal against sentence