Farm worker filmed kicking pigs and hitting them with a pitchfork is given suspended jail term after admitting animal cruelty

A farm worker caught on undercover camera footage repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with a pitchfork while suffering mental health difficulties has been spared an immediate jail sentence.Steven Woolger, 48, was warned at a hearing in June that he faced a possible jail sentence after he admitted eight animal cruelty offences.But District Judge Matthew Bone today gave him a 17-week prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, after being told that he had mental health issues at the time of the sickening abuse.Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court heard how animal rights activists had placed hidden cameras at the boar stud farm where Woolger was working at Burgh Castle, Norfolk.The 781 hours of secret filming included clips of him mistreating the animals at the Innovis Gene Centre East premises between May and September 2024.The covert footage was handed over by Animal Justice Project to Norfolk Trading Standards, which brought the prosecution.Lizzie Baker, prosecuting, said Woolger had caused unnecessary suffering to pigs in his care by kicking them, and hitting them with a pitchfork and a plastic pipe on multiple occasions. Steven Woolger, 48, was admitted eight animal cruelty offences and was today given a suspended 17-week prison sentenceShe added that Woolger, who had no previous convictions, ‘should have known that a pitchfork was not an appropriate implement’.Debbe Reynolds, defending, said: ‘He had been employed at the company since 2013. He had up to this point, an impeccable record.’But she added that Woolger’s wife had suffered a heart attack from pre-eclampsia after their child was born premature in April 2024 weighing just 4lbs, after she had an earlier miscarriage.She said: ‘His mental health and the stress levels he was under were sky high at that time.’Ms Reynolds said Woolger returned to work as the sole breadwinner for his family after the birth, leaving him ‘fraught, exhausted and under pressure’ and suffering from PTSD.She added: ‘It is accepted that working practices on the farm were not ideal. He was a stockman doing the best he could in exceptional circumstances.‘He had raised concerns about lack of equipment and gates not opening in the right directions, but was met with comments like “We don’t have the funds” or “We won’t pay for that”. Secret footage showed the farm worker repeatedly kicking pigs and hitting them with a pitchfork‘He knows he has done wrong and is full of remorse. In interview, he said he was disgusted at how he had behaved.‘But, during that time, he was struggling with mental health and trying to make the best of a difficult situation. He made full admissions.’Ms Reynolds said Woolger’s marriage had now ‘stumbled’ and he was estranged from his wife.The defendant, of Great Yarmouth, admitted four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to pigs on May 25, August 31, September 7 and September 21 in 2024, and four charges of failing to ensure their welfare needs.The court heard today how he had lost his job after the offences were revealed and was now living on benefits while looking for work.District Judge Bone told him: ‘These were deliberate acts committed on more than one occasion over a period of time. You occupied a position of responsibility.‘The offending occurred repeatedly over an extended period involving multiple animals in a commercial farming environment and was a breach of your responsibility to provide care.’Imposing the suspended prison sentence, District Judge Bone said he took into account Woolger’s ‘personal circumstances and evidence of PTSD, stress and anxiety’ as well as his early guilty plea and lack of previous convictions. PIctured: a farm worker caught abusing a pig at the facility A pig at Innovis Gene Centre (GTC) East - a boar breeding farm in NorfolkHe also said he accepted he had family responsibilities, was willing to engage with services and had a realistic prospect of rehabilitation.District Judge Bone said that the Government had stated that jail sentences of less than a year should be suspended unless there were special circumstances but he stated that there were no such circumstances in this case.He also disqualified Woolger from working with or having any involvement in farm animals for ten years, and ordered him to pay prosecution costs of £1,500 and a surcharge of £154Ayrton Cooper, campaigns director for Animal Justice Project, earlier described Woolger’s prosecution as ‘a significant moment for animal protection and accountability within British farming’.He added: 'Our investigators documented scenes that were deeply distressing and impossible to forget.'This result sends a clear message that no farm, company or individual is beyond scrutiny, and that cruelty behind closed doors can carry serious consequences.'