Man who claimed horse stole lunch fined £200

A MAN accused of trying to feed sausage rolls to police horses claimed that one of them stole it from him as he patted it.

But yesterday the court was told by officers it was a gammon roll Francis Kelly tried to get the horses to eat.

Mounted police officers gave evidence at Glasgow’s Justice of the Peace Court that he offered both of the horses food despite being asked not to and he shouted and swore. They said they told Kelly the horses were vegetarian.

Kelly, 41, from Govanhill said he was walking down a lane when he stopped to pat one of animals and it took his lunch from Greggs out of his hand.

He told the court he did not do anything wrong and the horse had taken a bite before anyone said anything to him. He said he did not eat gammon.

Justice of the Peace Eleanor Lafferty did not believe his version and found Kelly guilty of the breach last 26 September, at a lane between Pollokshaws Road and Victoria Road in Glasgow.

Kelly – who is in custody on another matter and unable to pay a fine – will serve seven days in prison.

PC Stewart Coulter told the court he and his colleague PC Victoria McEwan were in the lane with the animals talking to another man when Kelly appeared.

He said Kelly went under one the of horse’s necks and stood between his horse, and his neighbours’ horse called Kilmarnock, with what he thought was a roll and gammon.

Procurator fiscal depute Lauren McRobert asked: “What did he do then?”

PC Coulter said: “He had a gammon type roll in his hand, he separated it in two bits and tried to simultaneously feed both horses the roll.”

The officer said he put his hands up and told Kelly “They are vegetarian, they don’t eat meat”.

The constable said Kelly was abusive and told him: “I will feed them what I want.”

PC Coulter said he took Kelly by the shoulders and tried to “usher” him away and he was abusive again and soon after arrested.

Miss McRobert asked: “This started because he tried to feed the horses, what were your concerns for the horses?”

The witness replied: “It would harm them if it went in to their digestive system, they can be sick, it can give them the likes of Colic.”

Miss McRobert asked: “It can be fatal?”

PC Coulter replied: “It can, yes.”

Kelly told the court he was on the way to the Job Centre when the horses were blocking his path in the lane he had to walk along, and he clapped one of them on the neck.

He said: “Thats what I was doing, it actually took the sausage roll out of my hand, I just let it.

“I thought it was quite funny at first, it continued eating it.”

Kelly said PC Coulter then started being aggressive and that he thought he was angry because he fed his horse the sausage roll.

He told the court: “I was trying to say I have done nothing wrong, I was trying to explain to them, ‘I’m just trying to get passed’ they were blocking the lane. You don’t see horses everyday in Govanhill.”

He added: “I had no intention of doing anything to the horses whatsoever.”

Kelly told his defence lawyer Martin Lavery that he never intended feeding the horses and said: “I don’t eat gammon”.