Man accused of having sex with Shetland pony

A man accused of having sex with a Shetland pony has denied he was carrying three cans of deodorant in his bag “to help with any horse smells” after the encounter.

Giving evidence at Sheffield Crown Court, Alan Barnfield, 44, was asked why he was carrying the deodorants when he went for a walk past a field of horses near Doncaster, Yorkshire, in the middle of the night, in 2012.

Louise Reevell, prosecuting, had been asking Barnfield about why police who spoke to him on the night found him “sweating profusely” and “smelling of horses”.

Mrs Reevell asked the defendant whether the deodorant was “to help with any horse smells you may have to deal with”.

Barnfield, of Hexthorpe Lane, Hexthorpe, Doncaster, replied “No”, saying he was on medication for blood pressure and taking painkillers that made him sweat a lot.

He told the jury he sometimes sweated so much it dripped off his arms and, as he worked at a deodorant factory, he had as many as 20 cans at his Doncaster home.

Barnfield denies having sex with a pony called Sky in a field in the village of Loversall in the early hours of August 8, 2012.

Yesterday, a count of outraging public decency was also put to him, to which he also pleaded not guilty.

In the witness box, Barnfield repeatedly denied having any sexual interest in animals and any sexual contact with the horse.

The prosecutor said to him: “You had the DNA of a horse on swabs that were taken on your penis and that’s because you had intercourse with Sky.”

“No,” Barnfield replied.

Mrs Reevell said to him: “What part of a horse are you most attracted to?”

The defendant replied: “I’m not attracted to horses.”

And Mrs Reevell asked: “Are you someone who has a sexual interest in animals?”

Barnfield said: “No.”

The trial continues.