Cranswick Farm And Farm Manager Face 30 Charges

Cranswick Country Foods PLC subsidiary and Farm Manager charged with animal welfare offences at Lincolnshire’s North Moor pig farm

Lawyers for Animals (LFA), a registered charity, has commenced the prosecution of Elsham Linc Limited, a company operating a commercial pig farming premises, at North Moor Farm, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, and their Farm Manager, Andy Pentecost, in relation to alleged animal welfare offences.

The charges follow an investigation into conditions and practices at the farm between February and March 2024, including evidence obtained through an undercover investigation and subsequent expert veterinary review.

Elsham Linc Limited, a subsidiary company of Cranswick Country Foods Plc, and their Farm Manager, Andy Pentecost, of the North Moor Farm site, have been summonsed to appear at court. Both are due to attend Nottingham Justice Centre on 26 August 2026.

Elsham Linc Limited faces 23 offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015 and the Animal By-Products (Enforcement) (England) Regulations 2013. Andy Pentecost faces 7 offences contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and the Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing (England) Regulations 2015.

Prosecutor Statement

Ayesha Smart, Legal Director of Lawyers for Animals said:

“This prosecution concerns serious allegations relating to the treatment and welfare of pigs at a commercial farm.

Having carefully considered the available evidence, we have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to bring these charges and that it is in the public interest to prosecute.”

We remind all concerned that criminal proceedings against Elsham Linc Limited and Andy Pentecost are now active.

• The defendants are entitled to a fair trial. It is important that there should be no reporting, commentary, or sharing of information which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
  
  Note to editors

• Elsham Linc Limited (Company number 05525289) of Crane Court, Hesslewood Office Park, Ferriby Road, Hessle are the Company at North Moor Farm, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire.

• Andy Pentecost was, at the material time, Farm Manager at Elsham Linc Limited’s North Moor Farm.

• Charges arise out of Animal Justice Project’s investigation in 2024.

• Elsham Linc Limited is charged with 23 offences: 

  • 7 x s4 Animal Welfare Act 2006 - causing unnecessary suffering to pigs

  • 2 x s5 Animal Welfare Act 2006 – permitting routine mutilations (teeth grinding and tail docking)

  • 4 x s9 Animal Welfare Act 2006 – failing to ensure welfare needs

  • 9 x reg 30(1)(c) Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015 – failure to restrain animal during killing and killing using a non-mechanical percussive blow

  • 1 x reg 17 Animal By-Products (Enforcement)(England) Regulations 2013 - Failure to properly store or dispose of a dead sow.

• Andy Pentecost is charged with 7 offences: 

  • 3 x s4 Animal Welfare Act 2006 - causing unnecessary suffering to pigs

  • 2 x s5 Animal Welfare Act 2006 – permitting routine mutilations (teeth grinding and tail docking)

  • 2 x reg 30(1)(c) Welfare of Animals at the Time of Killing Regulations 2015 – failure to restrain animal during killing and killing using a non-mechanical percussive blow

• The offences are alleged to have taken place at North Moor Farm, Market Rasen LN8 3JF between 19 February and 7 March 2024 (and related dates). 

• The prosecution has been brought by Lawyers for Animals, represented by solicitors at Schofield Sweeney LLP. 

• The function of LFA is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.

• The LFA assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and Code of Conduct for Private Prosecutors.