AN ABERTILLERY woman has spoken out after her partner was banned from keeping animals for life following an RSPCA prosecution.

Edward George Bath, 58, of Arael View, Abertillery appeared at Newport Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, September 3, for sentencing after he pleaded guilty to four animal welfare offences.

He was also handed a suspended prison sentence after the court heard he failed to care for a large number of horses appropriately.

But speaking to the Argus following the hearing, his partner Ceri Brimfield said they feel hard done by because of a series of "mistakes" made by the RSPCA in which she says the horses were given the wrong ages.

“They’ve got one horse down as being two years old, but we’ve got photos of him from 2007 and he was fully grown then,” she said.

“Most of them are old horses. They’re not going to look as well as young horses do.

“They took them because the stables were in a bit of a state, but the food is the main thing. It’s not like they were starved. I've been spending £150 a week on hay”

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However, the RSPCA said in a statement: "The ages of the horses had no bearing on the court proceedings or their ill treatment.

"Also, the defendant pleaded guilty to the four charges."

Mrs Brimfield, who suffers from bowel cancer, said the horses were the only thing that’s kept her going after she was diagnosed.

She added that she believed that: "All the court wanted was the RSPCA side of it.

"No-one wanted to know that my partner's mother had recently died or about my illness."