Moray farmworker fined by Elgin Court for causing unnecessary suffering to pig

A former farmworker has been convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a pig after he was caught on film repeatedly kicking and hitting it with a plastic stick.

The violent incident on March 7 was recorded by a passing family who were walking along the Dava Way route in Moray.

They began to film after they heard shouting coming from a nearby field.

Their resulting footage was subsequently sent to the Scottish Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Rafal Palinkiewicz appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court where he pleaded guilty to mistreating the pig which, because it was a nursing sow with piglets, is legally classed as a protected animal.

Sheriff Gordon Fleetwood asked the 53-year-old defendant why he had behaved in such a way.

Speaking through a Polish interpreter, Palinkiewicz said: “Because the supervisor told me to put the pig back into its house and the pig didn’t want to go in.”

The defendant, who began to sob after he was fined £400, offered to pay the money at a rate of £20 per week.

However he was instead ordered to make weekly payments of £100.

When Palinkiewicz stated that this would be “very hard”, Sheriff Fleetwood replied: “Yes, it’s a penalty.”

The court heard that the defendant, who now lives in Grantown, is no longer employed at Sanquhar Mains Farm near Rafford.