Convicted animal abuser runs for election

Stab*City

This was posted in the county forum and they suggested someone post here so i did..

this is typical of this country.



The initial case:

Disgraceful

Quote:
http://www.limerickleader.ie/news?articleid=4902349

Limerick farmer gets four months in jail for cruelty


Richard Smith at Limerick District Court yesterday afternoon. Pic: Dermot Lynch

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENTPublished Date: 22 January 2009
By David Hurley
A FARMER received a four-month jail sentence this Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges relating to what was described as "one of the most horrendous" cases of animal cruelty to ever come before Limerick Court.
Richard Smith, 48, of Lemonfield, Crecora pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the discovery of a number of dead calves and two malnourished cattle on his farm last March.

An inspector with the Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Noel Shinners, told the court he called to the farm on March 15, 2007 after he received an anonymous phone call from a member of the public who claimed that a cow had been dragged with a rope to an outlying area of the farm a week earlier.

Mr Shinners said that when he arrived at the farm accompanied by members of the gardai, he located the cow which still had the rope tied around it. He told the court the "whole of its back was rotting."
Garda David Godfrey, Roxboro, said he believed the rope had been tied around the hind legs of the cow before it was dragged to the area where it was found.

The court heard that another cow, which was found in the yard of the farm, was "very very thin and malnourished." The two cows were still alive on the day in question but they were shot by Mr Smith's own vet who was contacted by gardai. The decaying carcasses of five dead calves were also found at a number of locations on the farm on the same date.

A veterinary inspector with the department of Agriculture, May Humphries, said she had been closely monitoring the farm since last March. She stated that a total of 15 dead animals had been removed from the farm since and she said she believed Mr smith could not cope with the demands of running a dairy herd. "Although things have improved (since last March] I have reservations about his management of cows. He is a lone operator and he is poorly equipped to manage a dairy herd," she said.

Solicitor John Herbert, for Mr Smith, described the conditions on the farm last March as "appalling" and said there was no defending it. "It is a family farm and he lives alone there and he grew up on a dairy farm and he has a historical attachment to it," he said, adding: "he is slowly beginning to accept that he cannot continue with the farming enterprise."

Judge O'Donnell was told that Mr Smith, who runs a successful business away from farming, had since carried out development works at the farm and that there was a vast improvement compared to March of last year. "He is doing all in his power to avoid a recurrance of what happen in March 2008," said Mr Herbert.

In imposing sentence on Mr Smith, Judge O'Donnell said: "there is clear evidence from the photographs I have been shown that these animals were the subject of abject and awful conditions."

The judge added that aspects of the case were "utterly awful" and he said: "it is manifestly clear that the pain and suffering in this case was as a result of the deliberate and appalling conduct of the defendant."

He imposed a four month jail sentence on Mr Smith, which is take effect from February 18. He also imposed fines totalling €2,500 and he ordered him to pay €1,000 towards the costs of the LSPCA.

Judge O'Donnell added: "I think these animals should be taken from the farm as soon as is possible and arrangements should be made to care for them somewhere else."

Mr Smith was granted leave to appeal the severity of the sentence imposed on him.

Quote:
Limerick Leader
A COUNTY council election candidate has defended his right to run for office after an animal rights group mounted an opposition campaign because he is currently appealing a jail sentence for animal cruelty.
Richard Smith from Crecora pleaded guilty in January to several charges relating to conditions on his farm in March 2008 and was sentenced to four months in prison, which he is appealing.
“I put my hands up and pleaded guilty. I'm not like some people, hiding from things,” he said, adding that “it's a free country” and “life moves on and I'm moving on too”.
He was responding after the Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR) released a statement saying that it is “horrified” at his election bid.
“We in AFAR call on the decent people in Limerick to condemn these animal violations and to make sure he is not given a position of public office. This makes a joke of the judicial system if a convicted abuser of any kind can run for office,” it read.
It also issued a call for people to lodge objections with the local authority, even though returning officer, Eugene Griffin, confirmed that there are no legal grounds to refuse Mr Smith's nomination.
Mr Smith said that he will register to run in the Adare electoral area before the Saturday deadline and will hold a press conference next Monday night to “come up strongly and explain” why he is running.
In January, Judge Tom O'Donnell said that the conditions on Mr Smith's farm showed “cruelty of the most appalling kind” while an inspector with the Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA) asked that the part-time farmer be banned from keeping animals for life.
Mr Smith declined to go into detail about the events but said that he “got caught out with a builder. They were putting up a shed for me and assured me that it would be finished by the end of September but they didn't finish it until the end of March. I had no place to put the cattle. There were other developments and I will go into greater detail on the situation next week. I had a problem with dogs pestering the animals”.
The independent candidate-who also owns Richie Tyres-said that he is aware of AFAR's stance but feels he has a political contribution to make.
“People are in such anger at the moment; they're just worried about the future. They feel that people are getting away with things and that the country is being robbed and plundered. I'm not looking for any expenses; I'll be putting the country first. From my point of view, I want to give a tolerant, logical view with a minimum of red tape,” he said.
The former Fine Gael party member added that he disagreed with recent comments by Fine Gael city councillor, Jim Long, about migrant workers-adding that “anyone that says that people from abroad have contributed nothing to Limerick must be mad”.

Raiser

He'll fit in nicely with the rest of them from what I can see.

- Stoooopid, ineffectual, incapable, criminal mentality and damn hard on the eye.......

Flaccus

Could be wrong, but that pic in the leader is the image of this mucksavage type who used frequent Ted's...he always went up for the free food in the nightclub and always came away with 2 helpings. Would see him in the Omnixplex now and again too and always gave him a wide berth over the smell. Disgusting individual.

seanybiker

The bastid. Neck like a jockeys bollix on him.

Kess73

Raiser wrote: »

He'll fit in nicely with the rest of them from what I can see.

- Stoooopid, ineffectual, incapable, criminal mentality and damn hard on the eye.......

And on the nose. Stand near him and you will understand my comment straight away.




* EDIT*Ahh I see Flaccus has had the misfortune to be within sniffing distance also

Flaccus

Snap.

I was right so. That's the git I'd see out and about in the clubs some years back. Unbearable to be anywhere near him. Always had him pegged for some rich farmer who came in from the country on weeknights to try and get off with young ones but forgot to change his clothes from a days work. (Now that I think of it, he always had the same smelly jumper on). I'd see him chatting to girls, but that's about it.

Are people supposed to take this guy seriously ? What could he have to offer local politics ?

gaf1983

Flaccus wrote: »

Could be wrong, but that pic in the leader is the image of this mucksavage type who used frequent Ted's...he always went up for the free food in the nightclub and always came away with 2 helpings. Would see him in the Omnixplex now and again too and always gave him a wide berth over the smell. Disgusting individual.

Then he's definitely the guy I saw at Fast Eddie's burger van a few Saturday nights ago.

Ironically enough, his half-page ad in this week's L'Indepedent reads:


IT'S NO JOKE!

irishvamp90

did i see an a photo link on some blog or forum with one of his policies being animal abusers should be jailed?think it was a election flyer/manifesto thing

shoppergal

oh my god that is just a disgrace. makes me sick that people like that might be elected.

Tea_Bag

Raiser wrote: »

He'll fit in nicely with the rest of them from what I can see.

- Stoooopid, ineffectual, incapable, criminal mentality and damn hard on the eye.......

yeah why does everyone seem so shocked?

zuroph

fair play to him i say, feckin cows.

Tony3004

when i saw "animal abuser" i was led to believe something even sicker :eek:

Henry Ford III

Ok he's a bit of zero, but I have doubts he'd be any worse than the rest of them, and possibly a lot better than some of them

Stab*City

Henry Ford III wrote: »

Ok he's a bit of zero, but I have doubts he'd be any worse than the rest of them, and possibly a lot better than some of them

How could this man be good for anything!!

Browney7

I've seen a good few of his posters vandalised and rightly so. Some of the worst cruelty ever seen down at his farm supposedly. If someone can treat animals badly they could be capable of treating humans the same way. He can't be right in the head.

5uspect

How can a convicted criminal run for office?

Kess73

5uspect wrote: »

How can a convicted criminal run for office?

This is Ireland, so the law is on his side when it comes to his right to run for office.

5uspect

I must be thinking of the states so.

grenache

His uncle had a field outside Patrickswell just off the main road, which Smith regarded as being ''his land''. When his uncle refused to give him use of it, he got the Caseys from the city to bring out their horses to the field, destroying the silage bales in the field in the process. The horses are still there over a year later with hardly no grass to graze on. Says a good deal about the man if he has any such dealings with a group like the Caseys and also if he treats his relations in such a manner. He shouldn't even have the right to appeal the length of the sentence, he should just be thrown into prison pronto, and anyone who gives him their vote should join him in there.

paddyboy23

Stab*City wrote: »

This was posted in the county forum and they suggested someone post here so i did..

this is typical of this country.



The initial case:

Disgraceful

Quote:
http://www.limerickleader.ie/news?articleid=4902349

Limerick farmer gets four months in jail for cruelty


Richard Smith at Limerick District Court yesterday afternoon. Pic: Dermot Lynch

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »View GalleryADVERTISEMENTPublished Date: 22 January 2009
By David Hurley
A FARMER received a four-month jail sentence this Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to charges relating to what was described as "one of the most horrendous" cases of animal cruelty to ever come before Limerick Court.
Richard Smith, 48, of Lemonfield, Crecora pleaded guilty to three charges relating to the discovery of a number of dead calves and two malnourished cattle on his farm last March.

An inspector with the Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Noel Shinners, told the court he called to the farm on March 15, 2007 after he received an anonymous phone call from a member of the public who claimed that a cow had been dragged with a rope to an outlying area of the farm a week earlier.

Mr Shinners said that when he arrived at the farm accompanied by members of the gardai, he located the cow which still had the rope tied around it. He told the court the "whole of its back was rotting."
Garda David Godfrey, Roxboro, said he believed the rope had been tied around the hind legs of the cow before it was dragged to the area where it was found.

The court heard that another cow, which was found in the yard of the farm, was "very very thin and malnourished." The two cows were still alive on the day in question but they were shot by Mr Smith's own vet who was contacted by gardai. The decaying carcasses of five dead calves were also found at a number of locations on the farm on the same date.

A veterinary inspector with the department of Agriculture, May Humphries, said she had been closely monitoring the farm since last March. She stated that a total of 15 dead animals had been removed from the farm since and she said she believed Mr smith could not cope with the demands of running a dairy herd. "Although things have improved (since last March] I have reservations about his management of cows. He is a lone operator and he is poorly equipped to manage a dairy herd," she said.

Solicitor John Herbert, for Mr Smith, described the conditions on the farm last March as "appalling" and said there was no defending it. "It is a family farm and he lives alone there and he grew up on a dairy farm and he has a historical attachment to it," he said, adding: "he is slowly beginning to accept that he cannot continue with the farming enterprise."

Judge O'Donnell was told that Mr Smith, who runs a successful business away from farming, had since carried out development works at the farm and that there was a vast improvement compared to March of last year. "He is doing all in his power to avoid a recurrance of what happen in March 2008," said Mr Herbert.

In imposing sentence on Mr Smith, Judge O'Donnell said: "there is clear evidence from the photographs I have been shown that these animals were the subject of abject and awful conditions."

The judge added that aspects of the case were "utterly awful" and he said: "it is manifestly clear that the pain and suffering in this case was as a result of the deliberate and appalling conduct of the defendant."

He imposed a four month jail sentence on Mr Smith, which is take effect from February 18. He also imposed fines totalling €2,500 and he ordered him to pay €1,000 towards the costs of the LSPCA.

Judge O'Donnell added: "I think these animals should be taken from the farm as soon as is possible and arrangements should be made to care for them somewhere else."

Mr Smith was granted leave to appeal the severity of the sentence imposed on him.

Quote:
Limerick Leader
A COUNTY council election candidate has defended his right to run for office after an animal rights group mounted an opposition campaign because he is currently appealing a jail sentence for animal cruelty.
Richard Smith from Crecora pleaded guilty in January to several charges relating to conditions on his farm in March 2008 and was sentenced to four months in prison, which he is appealing.
“I put my hands up and pleaded guilty. I'm not like some people, hiding from things,” he said, adding that “it's a free country” and “life moves on and I'm moving on too”.
He was responding after the Alliance for Animal Rights (AFAR) released a statement saying that it is “horrified” at his election bid.
“We in AFAR call on the decent people in Limerick to condemn these animal violations and to make sure he is not given a position of public office. This makes a joke of the judicial system if a convicted abuser of any kind can run for office,” it read.
It also issued a call for people to lodge objections with the local authority, even though returning officer, Eugene Griffin, confirmed that there are no legal grounds to refuse Mr Smith's nomination.
Mr Smith said that he will register to run in the Adare electoral area before the Saturday deadline and will hold a press conference next Monday night to “come up strongly and explain” why he is running.
In January, Judge Tom O'Donnell said that the conditions on Mr Smith's farm showed “cruelty of the most appalling kind” while an inspector with the Limerick Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (LSPCA) asked that the part-time farmer be banned from keeping animals for life.
Mr Smith declined to go into detail about the events but said that he “got caught out with a builder. They were putting up a shed for me and assured me that it would be finished by the end of September but they didn't finish it until the end of March. I had no place to put the cattle. There were other developments and I will go into greater detail on the situation next week. I had a problem with dogs pestering the animals”.
The independent candidate-who also owns Richie Tyres-said that he is aware of AFAR's stance but feels he has a political contribution to make.
“People are in such anger at the moment; they're just worried about the future. They feel that people are getting away with things and that the country is being robbed and plundered. I'm not looking for any expenses; I'll be putting the country first. From my point of view, I want to give a tolerant, logical view with a minimum of red tape,” he said.
The former Fine Gael party member added that he disagreed with recent comments by Fine Gael city councillor, Jim Long, about migrant workers-adding that “anyone that says that people from abroad have contributed nothing to Limerick must be mad”.

and were thinking of letting this no hope party run our country god forbid

grenache

paddyboy23 wrote: »

and were thinking of letting this no hope party run our country god forbid

well Mr Smith is a former member now, so him and FG are no longer connected.

paddyboy23

grenache wrote: »

well Mr Smith is a former member now, so him and FG are no longer connected.

still wouldnt trust him or edna

Flaccus

the smelly so and so showed up in Clohesy's bar Sat. night....the smell was atrocious, even with the doors open. Luckily he stayed only 10-15 minutes.

Kess73

Flaccus wrote: »

the smelly so and so showed up in Clohesy's bar Sat. night....the smell was atrocious, even with the doors open. Luckily he stayed only 10-15 minutes.

And the thing is that most people will think that the comments made by you and I about the smell are exaggerated. I have never in my life came across a person that smells like him.

Flaccus

I know. It's unreal. Before I got eyeshot of him my friends commented about this stink wafting through the place. Then we saw him and it was bemused smiles all round. Took about 5 minutes to disperse after he left. Dirty animal. How would the guy even campaign door to door when you couldn't even speak to him with the gasmask on. I'm sure anyone with an ounce of sense won't vote for him anyway considering the way he treated those poor animals. Inexcusable.

Flaccus

http://www.limerickpost.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=790:fine-gael-will-control-limerick-county-council-&catid=37:local-news&Itemid=60

Scroll down...173 people from the Adara area gave 1st preference to Richie Smith!! That's 1.5% of the vote. If he had gotten a 6 months sentance he would have been excluded from running it seems.

And here is what the guy did :
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/92214

I honestly don't know how that man can live with himself.

grenache

Flaccus wrote: »

173 people from the Adara area gave 1st preference to Richie Smith!! .

173 people with some serious morality issues goin' on!