A FARMER has been banned from the poultry business for five years after thousands of chickens died in horrific conditions.

The chickens were crammed into giant sheds without proper ventilation.

A court heard they died in some of the worst conditions an industry vet had even seen.

More than 6,000 chickens died over three days in August 2012, and about 5,000 were refused by an abbatoir because of their condition.

Most of the pictures we were sent by investigators were too disturbing to print.

Paul Flatman, 65, of Packards Lane, Wormingford, admitted six charges under the Animal Welfare Act, including causing unneccessary suffering.

He was given 22-week suspended prison sentences for each offence, was banned from having any involvement in the poultry industry for five years, must carry out 180 hours unpaid work and ordered to pay £12,500 costs.

Alison Lambert, prosecuting for Trading Standards at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court, said Flatman has seven farms which are leased out.

In 2009, a specialist vet visited his premises, at Hawksmill Farm, Mill Lane, Great Leighs.

Concerns had been raised about the number of chickens in each shed and the lack of ventilation and guidance was given.

Flatman, who bought Colchester’s Jumbo water tower at an auction two years ago, failed to put safety measures in place.

In 2011 several chickens died from heat stress.

No prosecution was brought but Flatman was investigated.

However, nothing changed.

In August 2012, More than 6,000 chickens died and about 5,000 were refused by an abbatoir.

It was also claimed Flatman deliberatelymanipulated records about how many chickens were in each shed purely for profit.

Paul Rogers, mitigating, claimed Flatman was not aware of the scale of the problem because of a “breakdown in communication”.

He denied Flatman, a Wormingford parish councillor, had put profit first, pointing to his many years as a respected member of the industry and the community.

He told the court Flatman had received death threats as a result of articles about the cruelty.

Judge John Woollard sentenced Flatman to jail but suspended it due to his good character, ill health and the care he provided to his partner.

He said: “I have heard a quite horrific account of events at this particular farm.

“It must have had an immensely distressing effect on the chickens and those people whose jobs it was to work on the farm.”

He said it was clear profit was put ahead of welfare and many steps which could have been taken were not.

He said: “You were gambling against a hot summer. You made choices which were profit-driven.

“It got about as serious as it could get and they were effectivelty half cooked to death.”

He acknowleged the harm cases like this can cause to the reputation of the British poultry industry. Flatman declined to comment after the hearing.