A former worker at a boar stud farm repeatedly abused pigs in his care by hitting them with a pitchfork and a pipe, a court has heard.

Steven Woolger, 48, has been given a suspended 17-week jail sentence for the offences committed in 2024 at an Innovis boar semen collection centre at Burgh Castle in Norfolk.

He was captured on camera repeatedly abusing the pigs through an investigation by Animal Justice Project.

District judge Matthew Bone also banned Woolger, of Marsh Farm, Great Yarmouth, from being involved in the care or transportation of animals for 10 years.

Woolger, who pleaded guilty earlier this year, had been employed at the facility since 2013.

The abuse took place between May and September 2024, involving Woolger striking pigs with a pitchfork, kicking them and forcefully hitting them with a plastic pipe.

The case was brought by Norfolk County Council's Trading Standards team following footage of the campaigners' investigation being released.

His defence lawyer, Debbie Reynolds, said difficulties at home had led to his mental health being affected prior to the abuse and that he had no previous convictions.

The court heard Woolger had also raised concerns about a lack of equipment and issues with gates not opening in the right direction prior to the incidents.

Reynolds said the nature of the work had also triggered post-traumatic stress disorder, but did not provide any further details. Woolger has since lost his job and is unemployed.

Judge Bone called the abuse "deliberate actions committed on more than one occasion" and that the defendant had not upheld his responsibilities towards the welfare of the animals.

Following the sentence, Claire Palmer, director at Animal Justice Project, said: "This case is a reminder that pigs are intelligent, sentient individuals capable of feeling pain, fear and distress, and those who abuse them should be held accountable."

Adrian Ramsay, Green Party MP for Waveney Valley, said: "I welcome today's sentence, which sends an important message that cruelty towards farmed animals has serious consequences.

"The violence inflicted on these pigs was indefensible."

Scott Hussey, councillor with responsibility for trading standards, said: "This prosecution demonstrates that we will take action when there is evidence that animal welfare laws have been broken."

Woolger's prison sentence was suspended for 18 months and he was also fined £1,654.

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