Horse given rights to stop carrot-feeder grandmother

A retired racehorse has become the unlikely beneficiary of a restraining order against a grandmother who would not stop feeding carrots to the animal.

The horse, named Nelson, began to be subjected to the attentions of 67-year-old Margaret Porter who had concluded the horse was "looking quite sad" and was probably being underfed. She began making regular visits to the chestnut gelding's field near the village of Scruton, North Yorks, to slip a few carrots through the fence. Soon, however, what began as an apparently commendable interest in Nelson's wellbeing turned into something allegedly more sinister, ultimately leading to the police and RSPCA getting involved.

The illicit feeding operation first came to the attention of Nelson's owner, Suzanne Cooke, when she noticed there were dozens of chewed carrot tops strewn around the horse's field earlier this year. On February 13th she went to see Nelson and noticed a car parked next to the field. She saw Ms Porter standing at the fence, throwing carrots to the horse.

Ms Cooke told the court she had demanded to know what Ms Porter was doing and pointed out that she could inadvertently poison Nelson or make him ill by feeding him. Ms Porter was apparently unfazed, and was said to have replied: "You can ring the police, I'm not bothered."

York magistrates' court convicted Ms Porter of harassment and took the unusual step of affording the horse legal protection after prosecutors made an application for a restraining order on its behalf.

When giving her account to the court, Ms Porter claimed she had become worried about Nelson after passing its paddock on the edge of the village in the cold weather. She said: "He looked thin and I began speaking to people about my concerns in the hope someone would take it on board and try and get her to look after the horse properly. I was getting quite distressed about the situation. I decided to give him a few carrots at the fence, it never occurred to me that anyone else would be bothered about that, I just didn't want him starving to death."

Ms Cooke was horrified when an RSPCA inspector called at her house to tell her he was carrying out a welfare check on Nelson. The court was told that the inspector quickly realised that the horse was in peak condition, in part due to its history of competing in three professional horse races. Ms Cooke had no doubt who had reported her and had become increasingly angered by Ms Porter, as the latter's gossiping to villagers continued despite the RSPCA's clean bill of health.

A parish councillor, Trevor Howe, gave evidence to say Ms Porter called him around 10 times about Nelson's welfare, "repeating the fact it was underfed". The owner became increasingly despairing and concerned about the unceasing visits to her horse and decided to get the police involved.

She told the court: "I am tired of this happening and worried that she may make my horse ill, I don't know what she is giving it." Ms Porter was arrested and denied a charge of harassment when she first appeared at court in April. The court was told the defendant had previously been convicted in 2005 for assaulting her brother with three sticks of rhubarb during a family spat.

Ms Cooke said: "I'm very glad the court passed the order to keep her away from Nelson for his sake. He's a thoroughbred horse and he's very well looked after, exercised and fed. He's a wonderful horse and very much loved by me and my son."

The Johnson Partnership

Derby Crime Solicitors