TWO New Forest farmers have narrowly avoided being jailed for causing cruelty to animals – after they went to court in a bid to reduce their community punishment for their crimes.

A judge told Anthony Ward and Susan Moore they had “absolute and total disdain” for court sentences and that the suffering they inflicted on pigs and cows was “deliberate and callous”.

A vet told Southampton Crown Court it was a “miracle” some of the malnourished animals were still alive when she inspected the couple’s farm, but several had to be put down that day.

One of the pigs was just six inches wide and others were trampled because they were too weak to stand in the crowded pens.

Both Ward and Moore have previous convictions for causing suffering to farm animals and Ward, who tried to stop inspectors entering the 14.5-acre farm, had already been banned from keeping horses and ponies.

The pair, of Oaklea Farm, Sway, were convicted in July of 16 offences through evidence found by trading standards and Defra inspectors in February, just a month after being given conditional discharges for similar offences.

They immediately lodged an appeal, but on the day of their hearing dropped their bid to overturn nine charges of causing unnecessary suffering to 13 young pigs and calves, after prosecutors accepted the other seven convictions could be removed.

Ward, 58, had been ordered to carry out 200 hours unpaid work and 43-year-old Moore was given a 12-month supervision order.

But when they tried to get those sentences reduced, the appeal panel led by Judge Andrew Maitland said the original magistrates’ court punishment was not severe enough.

He said: “It is without a shadow of a doubt our unanimous opinion that these appeals have no merit whatsoever.

“The court can only come to the conclusion that your attitude to animals was deliberate and callous and we don’t accept that this was in any way accidental because you didn’t see something was happening,” he added.

He sentenced Ward to a total of six months behind bars and Moore, his partner of 25 years, to three months in prison, both sentences suspended for two years. They were both ordered to pay £500 costs and banned both from owning, keeping, caring for, dealing or trading pigs and cows for five years.

The pair were given 28 days to remove the 44 cows, 20 pigs, five horses, 30 goats, one racoon and chicken and geese they still have on the farm.