Bucks woman sentenced after breaching animal ban for the THIRD time

Bucks woman Donna Glenister, of Tapping Road, situated between Aston Rowant and High Wycombe, appeared at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court last week to be sentenced on one offence of breaching a ban, of which she pleaded guilty to at an earlier hearing last month.

It is the third time Glenister has appeared before the courts for breaching a disqualification order - the first being in January 2015 and the second in January 2016. Her original disqualification order on keeping horses for five years, was imposed on her in January 2012 after she pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to two horses.

Magistrates gave Glenister a 12-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months, ordered her to pay costs of £750 and a £115 victim surcharge, as well as extending her disqualification order on keeping equines for a further seven years, expiring in 2024.

The court heard that the RSPCA was contacted in January this year by a member of the public, who informed the animal welfare charity that Glenister was keeping a horse, despite being subjected to a disqualification order.

RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith said: “After being informed that Glenister had a horse, I went to the stables and found she did indeed have a bay gelding horse named Burt.

“Courts impose disqualification orders on people convicted on animal welfare offences to protect further animals from suffering.

“We are grateful to the member of the public who contacted us, and as a result the horse was removed from Glenister’s care and has now been rehomed.

“It is important to reiterate to the public that we rely on them to tell us if someone has breached a ban. We depend on the public to be our eyes and ears and we take breaches of bans very seriously - as do the courts.”