A FARMER has been fined £20,000 and banned from keeping animals for five years after pleading guilty to charges of causing unnecessary suffering to his livestock.

Graham Holden, 52, of Great Langdale, near Ambleside, who has been in farming since the age of ten, admitted he had not provided a proper diet for his Swaledale sheep or sought veterinary help over the winter of 2008 and 2009.

He also admitted he had not disposed of 99 carcasses.

South Lakeland Magistrates’ Court heard Holden had neglected his duties for the livestock he keeps at Raw Fell and Kirkstone Pass after suffering several setbacks over the past year, including anxiety and depression, health worries and the breakdown of his marriage.

Stuart Sutton, Holden’s barrister, said: “He knows he’s done wrong. He loves his animals. He’s a farmer – he doesn’t want to see his animals in pain.”

The court heard Holden had struggled when a key employee, Jimmy Mallet, was off work for four months with illness, while his daughter, who helped him, had gone to university.

Holden, who also runs Greenhowe Caravan Park, needed two mammograms after doctors feared he had breast cancer, and was also being blackmailed by a local person who wrongly claimed he was having an affair, said Mr Sutton.

Holden must pay the fine by November 15, by which point he must have sold all his 400 sheep. He was ordered to pay £1,560 court costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

Holden said he was unsure he would have the money by that time but he will be allowed to return to the court and rearrange the payments if necessary.