Man jailed for cutting sheep's throat and stealing another from Kerry farm

The accused was going to remote areas, taking sheep and killing them to butcher them and then sell them on to members of the public, Sergeant Nigel Shelvin told the court

Farmer Con O’Riordan said that the fact that such a thing could happen had never struck him previously, but 'it was always in his head now that this could happen again'. File Picture: PA

A man who stole a sheep and also cut the throat of a pregnant sheep near Killarney has been handed down a 16-month sentence with six months suspended.

At the Circuit Criminal Court in Tralee, a victim impact statement by farmer Con O’Riordan spoke of his horror and shock at what he came upon. The barbaric act has not left him, the farmer who had to pay the costs of the disposal added.