A Leicestershire farmer has been ordered to pay a total of £10,899 after Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards brought a prosecution for extensive breaches of cattle movement and tuberculosis (TB) testing regulations.
John Andrew Hawley, who operates as Leicestershire Livestock from Six Hills Farm in Melton Mowbray, appeared at Leicester Magistrates Court on Wednesday 4 February, where he pleaded guilty to three breaches of the regulations relating to 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 – a total of £10,899.
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. We will always take firm action against this type of offending.
Person:Gary Connors, head of regulatory services
The court heard that Hawley, who has been farming for more than 50 years, and who has recently retired from the business, had repeatedly failed to meet key legal duties designed to protect animal health, safeguard the food chain and prevent the spread of disease. His farm specialises in purchasing cattle from markets and farms across the UK, fattening them, and sending them to slaughter.
The case followed concerns raised by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). In May 2024, the APHA informed Leicestershire Trading Standards of their intention to revoke a licence held by Hawley after inspections revealed breaches of the licence conditions and of the Cattle Identification Regulations 2007. Trading Standards began monitoring Hawley’s cattle movement records and discovered systematic non‑compliance, despite previous advice and formal warning letters from Leicestershire Trading Standards.
Between 27 January and 12 May 2025, Trading Standards officers found that Hawley had notified the British Cattle Movement Service (BCMS) late or not at all of around 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 7 and 25 April 2025 entered the human food chain without any notification being made to BCMS. When questioned about the failures, Hawley said that cattle were recorded “as soon as it is possible to do so”.
Further breaches involved TB controls. On 19 October 2024, the APHA required Hawley to complete a whole‑herd TB test between 17 December 2024 and 18 February 2025. He did not comply, resulting in his holding losing its officially TB‑free status and receiving a movement restriction prohibiting all cattle movements without a licence. Despite this, Hawley unlawfully moved 65 cattle off the farm and 35 cattle onto it before the restriction was lifted on 21 March 2025.
Although he later organised a TB test between 24 and 27 February 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 of their deaths within the required seven‑day timeframe – another example of the defendant’s lack of proper record keeping.
When interviewed, Hawley 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.