A farmer has been fined nearly £11,000 after Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards brought a prosecution for “extensive breaches of cattle movement and TB testing regulations”.
John Andrew Hawley, who operates as Leicestershire Livestock from Six Hills Farm in Melton Mowbray, appeared before Leicester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, February 6.
During court proceedings, Hawley pleaded guilty to three breaches of the regulations relating to the movement of livestock and TB testing under the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007 and the Tuberculosis in Animals (England) Order 2021.
He was fined £3,999 for the three offences, and ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £1,600 and prosecution costs of £5,300, calculating to a total of £10,899 in fines.
Court
The court heard that Hawley had been farming for more than 50 years prior to recently retiring, with his farm specialising in “purchasing cattle from marts and farms across the UK, fattening them and sending them to slaughter”.
According to the county council, the farmer had repeatedly failed to meet key legal duties designed to protect animal health, safeguard the food chain, and prevent the spread of disease.
The case centred around concerns made by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) between 2024 and 2025.
In May of 2024, APHA notified the Leicestershire Trading Standards of the agency’s intention to revoke a licence held by Hawley after inspections revealed breaches of the licence conditions and the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007.
Cattle movement
Following APHA’s notice, Leicestershire Trading Standards officers began monitoring the farmer’s cattle movement records and discovered systematic non‑compliance, despite previous advice and formal warning letters.
Between January 27 and May 12, 2025, officers found that Hawley had alerted the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) late or not at all of about 85% of the 279 cattle moved off his farm, and 79% of the 97 cattle moved onto it.
In one instance, 55 cattle sent to slaughter between April 7 and 25, 2025 entered the human food chain without any notification being made to BCMS.
In response to the claim, the farmer said that the cattle were recorded “as soon as possible”.
Leicestershire County Council outlined that further breaches, which the prosecution brought forward to court proceedings, involved TB controls.
On October 19, 2024, Hawley was required by APHA to complete a whole-herd TB test between December 17, 2024 and February 18, 2025, however, “he did not comply.”
This situation resulted in the farmer’s holding losing its offically TB-free status and a movement restriction was put in place, prohibiting all cattle movements to and from his farm without a licence.
TB
Despite this, the court heard that Hawley had unlawfully moved 65 cattle off the farm and 35 cattle onto it before the restriction was lifted on March 21, 2025.
Although the farmer later organised a TB test between February 24 and 27, 2025, it could not be completed because seven cattle which, according to official records, should have been alive and on the farm, could not be accounted for.
BCMS records later revealed that Hawley had failed to notify the authorities about the deaths of the seven cattle within the required seven‑day timeframe.
When interviewed, the defendant blamed an injury, administrative delays, and paperwork difficulties for his failure to comply with the law, and stated that he sends between 3,000 and 4,000 cattle to slaughter each year.
County council
The head of regulatory services at the county council, Gary Connors highlighted that the council ” will always take firm action against this type of offending”.
Connors said: “The combination of cattle traceability and rigorous TB testing is absolutely vital in protecting both the food chain and the wider agricultural sector.
“These rules exist to keep people safe, to prevent the spread of disease and to ensure full confidence in the meat supply chain
“When individuals choose to ignore repeated advice, warnings and legal notices, they put animal health, public health and the rural economy at risk,” he added.
