Shropshire farmer given 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary harm to his poultry

A Shropshire farmer has been given 100 hours of community service after animal health inspectors found cases of chickens with "severe" foot infections.

Paul Hotchkiss of Gilberries Hall Farm, in Church Stretton, was sentenced at Telford Magistrates Court this week after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary harm to his poultry.

Hotchkiss was ordered to pay prosecution costs of £5,782.18 and a victim surcharge of £95. The Court also imposed a Community Punishment Order of 100 hours of unpaid work.

The case was launched by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in 2021, who reported on chickens with severe pododermatitis – dermatitis of the foot pads – in 90 to 100 per cent of birds on arrival at a slaughterhouse.