Former teacher and huntswoman cleared of animal cruelty after being filmed punching and kicking a horse
25 August 2023, 14:32 | Updated: 25 August 2023, 15:37
A teacher has been found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal after she was filmed kicking and slapping a horse.
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Sarah Moulds, 39, was cleared over the incident on November 2021 at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday.
She sparked outrage online as she was seen striking Bruce Almighty, a grey pony she still owns, and during the backlash she lost her job as a primary school teacher before the RSPCA prosecuted her.
However, a jury found her not guilty after five hours of deliberation as Moulds wept.
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The court was told she made "minimal contact" with 11-year-old Bruce, who showed no signs of external or internal injuries, during the incident in Gunby, Lincolnshire.
Moulds, of Melton Mowbray, said she wanted to "briefly shock" the child's pony because he had run into the road, but did not lose her temper.
Shocking footage sees woman kick and hit a horse in the face
Bruce had been held by a child before he took off a short distance down the road.
He came back to Moulds who then struck him.
"In that moment [Bruce] has done something incredibly dangerous and, in that exact moment, I decided that the right thing to do was discipline him quickly," she told the court.
"In reality, in that moment, it was four seconds. My intention was then, and always was, to discipline Bruce in the moment so that he does not do it again.
"There was minimal contact and it was so quick and so short."
Prosecutor Hazel Stevens said the animal "suffered physically and mentally" from Moulds' "unnecessary and counter-productive" actions.
An equine vet, Dr Suzanne Green, told jurors the striking was "not proportionate", but another vet, appearing for Moulds' defence, said Bruce would probably have felt just "transient discomfort".
The footage was capture by Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs, who oppose hunting and try to disrupt the events.
Moulds said she and her family had not resumed trail hunting because they had received death threats.
"I certainly will never strike a horse, discipline a horse, in that manner because my life has been torn to pieces as a result of that four-second decision," she told the trial.
