Video: How pigs were tortured on their way to slaughter

Piotr Andrzej Wasiuta, 30, of Cecil Court, Jones Close, Southend, Essex, was locked up for six weeks.

His colleague Kelly Smith, 40, a father-of-three, of Church Road, Hadleigh, Benfleet, Essex, was jailed for four weeks after hitting the pigs with a “slapper”.

He hit one pig 30 times in 62 seconds.

The duo were captured on film by the animal rights’ group Animal Aid abusing the pigs at Cheale Meats at Orchard Farm in Little Warley, Brentwood, Essex, during March and April last year.

Wasiuta admitted three charges, and Smith admitted two, of causing unnecessary suffering under the Animal Welfare Act.

The chairman of the bench, John Newgas, told the men their behaviour was gratuitous.

CCTV footage was played to Westminster Magistrates’ Court showing Wasiuta, a father of one from Poland, stubbing cigarettes out three times on pigs’ snouts.

Smith was also shown “getting frustrated” with the animals as he tried to herd them through holding pens - lashing out routinely with his baton.

Mr Newgas told the men: “You have both seen the pictures of what took place and what was shown was clear, animal cruelty, there is no doubt about it and you have pleaded guilty to it.”

He added: “In both cases we see aggravating factors, extra culpability, that you were in positions of responsibility to the animals which were kept as part of a livelihood and weapons were used and several animals were affected.”

Turning to Wasiuta, he said: “It was gratuitous behaviour for no reason other than apparent pleasure.

“Both defendants knew it was wrong, should have known it was wrong and must have known it was wrong.”

Both men were fired from the firm after bosses saw the footage.

The pig Kelly hit 30 times in 62 seconds sat down “like a dog” and was breathing rapidly after the beating - probably due to the stress and abuse, said Duncan Penny, prosecuting.

A vet who watched the clips described the abuse as “gratuitous” and “brutal”, and said there was no purpose to it.

The vet said Kelly’s violence had no point to it other than to display to his colleagues “the clear contempt” he had for the animals.

Smith’s solicitor, Jeremy Sirrell, said his client was under enormous pressure - he and a colleague had to kill 1,500 pigs, or “units, as they’re referred to”, that day, he said.

“The background is one of extreme pressure, and frustration resulted in these acts,” he said.

Smith, who sat impassively in the dock as the footage was played, owns a hamster, and has never shown “a pre-disposition to cruelty”, said Mr Sirrell.

Sundeep Pahkhania, for Wasiuta, said the defendant could offer no explanation but the abuse was part of a larger culture of cruelty.

“I suggest there is an established culture of this behaviour,” he said, adding that Wasiuta was “disgusted with himself”.

Outside court, Kate Fowler, of Animal Aid, agreed there was a culture of abuse.

She said: “We are satisfied that Wasiuta and Smith have now been brought to justice.

“Their acts of cruelty were inexcusable and caused untold suffering to animals who were already scared and vulnerable.

“However, many other slaughterhouse workers, who also caused serious and deliberate suffering to animals, have escaped justice because this Government refused to act.

“We are now calling on the Food Standards Agency to look again at two other cases to see whether charges may be brought under the Animal Welfare Act.

“Our detailed investigations have found illegality in eight of the nine slaughterhouses we visited, despite Government-appointed vets being present in all of them.

“The current regulatory system does not work.

“It does not catch those who abuse animals.

“But this case proves that properly placed and independently monitored cameras do work, and we renew our call for Defra to make CCTV mandatory to catch those who abuse animals and to act as a disincentive to those who might consider it.”

If they had not pleaded guilty, Wasiuta would have been jailed for nine weeks and Smith seven.

They will serve half their sentences and be released in a few weeks.

Simon Clements, Head of the Crown Prosecution Service Welfare, Rural and Health Prosecutions Division, said: “Wasiuta and Smith acted in a particularly cruel and violent manner towards the pigs in their care. I hope today’s sentences will be of some comfort to those rightly distressed and outraged by what we have seen.

“There should be no underestimating the gratuitous pain and suffering inflicted on these animals. When Wasiuta repeatedly stubbed out his lit cigarette on the snout of the three pigs in his care, they rapidly recoiled in pain.

“On one occasion, Wasiuta repeatedly touched the pig with the cigarette on the neck, and then again on its snout, as the pig moved to avoid him.

“Smith’s brutal violence was equally pointless and appeared simply to be an expression of his frustration. One pig was hit more than 30 times in just over a minute before adopting a dog sitting position and breathing rapidly...

“There can be no place for such cruelty in farming. Where it is exposed, those responsible can expect to face the full force of my specialist prosecutors.”