Man who spray-painted horse's face gets suspended sentence

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jan/04/man-spray-painted-horse-face-suspended-sentence

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A man who spray-painted a horse’s face has been given a three-month suspended jail term for a string of vandalism offences.

Ricky Lee Tomlinson, of Chesterfield, was found guilty of nine counts of criminal damage at Chesterfield justice centre last month, Derbyshire police said.

He had denied spray-painting the head of a horse and the blanket of another horse, as well as signs, doors and other property in October 2014.

Magistrates, sitting on 19 December, suspended Tomlinson’s jail term for 12 months and ordered him to pay £1,085 in compensation.

An RSPCA spokeswoman said: “This sounds like a very cruel and unusual incident and must have been very distressing for this poor horse, but sadly the RSPCA see mistreated animals like this every day.

“If anyone is concerned about the wellbeing of any animal they can ring the RSPCA 24-hour cruelty line on 0300 123 4999.”