A CROWN court judge has dismissed an appeal from a stable hand who was banned from keeping horses for five years.
News Shopper reported in October how forty-nine-year-old Christine Hawkins, of Ash Road in Hawley, was disqualified from owning, keeping and participating in the keeping of horses at Dartford Magistrates Court.
She pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and one charge of failing to ensure animal welfare, relating to two horses she cared for at Forebays stable yard in Horton Kirby.
When the RSPCA examined the horses they were found to be underweight and suffering from louse infestations.
Hawkins, who was also ordered to carry out 40 hours unpaid work by District Judge Michael Kelly, appealed against the sentence at Maidstone Crown Court on January 29.
However, the sentence was upheld and Hawkins must carry out the unpaid work by October 15 this year.
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