James Gray takes the stand to begin defence against cruelty charges
James Gray will start to give evidence at 11.15am this morning as his defence case starts.
James Gray is facing charges of alleged cruelty to 141 horses, ponies and donkeys removed from Spindle Farm, Amersham in January last year.
Gray, 46, his daughters, Cordelia and Jodie, and wife Julie and a 15-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons, each deny 12 charges of animal cruelty under the Animal Welfare Act.
The trial, that started at Bicester Magistrates Court on 9 December last year, is scheduled to last for 10 weeks, but has already taken seven weeks.
In the prosecution case, the court heard from vets and RSPCA officers that dead bodies of animals were found with live horses, the some animals seemed to be suffering from strangles and worms and others were very thin.
The case continues
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.