Cork pig farmer Rory O’Brien is facing fines of up to €100,000 and a possible jail sentence after being found guilty of animal cruelty in Cork Circuit Criminal Court.
The farmer from Killicane, Mitchelstown, pleaded guilty to five charges of animal cruelty in front of Judge Sean O Donnabhain this week.
Details in the case, concerning the pig farmer included failing to treat a pig after it was found eaten alive.
The court also heard that pig farmer O’Briens’s wife, Monica, and farm manager, Seamus Curran, of Kiltrislane, Mitchelstown, had pleaded not guilty to some 88 charges dating back to 2011.
Both Monica O’Brien and Curran were discharged after the DPP entered a ‘no prosecution’ order in the case.
O’Brien now faces fines of up to €100,000 and/or three years imprisonment, while fines of up to €10,000 and/or two years imprisonment are also applicable for lesser charges of animal cruelty.
Expert reports are now being conducted and sentencing is due on February 12.
The case had seen a jury sworn in, but after deliberations outside the courtroom it was deemed that there was no further need for a trial.
The five charges the pig farmer pleaded guilty date from between May and September 2011.
