Tara man jailed after leaving 90 horses 'emaciated and in filthy conditions'

A Meath man was sentenced to two years in prison after 90 horses in his ownership were found emaciated and living in filthy conditions.

Geoffrey Lyons (54), from Cottage Macetown, Tara, was in Trim Circuit Court on 16th February charged with animal cruelty and neglect and evasion of excise duty on tobacco products.

Judge John Martin said the descriptions of the horses' conditions was "harrowing" and it caused great distress to both the horses and those who surrendered them to Mr Lyons.

Detective Garda Alan Carberry from the Criminal Assets Bureau told the court a search warrant was executed on Mr Lyons' address on 13th March 2023 in the early morning. The site was searched including a number of vehicles including a horse box trailer at the stables area of the home which contained a large number of cardboard boxes found with untaxed hand rolling tobacco.

A total of 930.75kg of tobacco was seized, valued at €703,884.69, alongside Mr Lyons' trailer. The total tax duty attached to this in both VAT and tax revenue was €538,211.46. A small amount of tobacco was also found in his car with a price list for each type.

Alongside this search, Garda Nives Caplice of the Garda Mounted Unit told the court when this warrant was executed five ponies were discovered on property owned by Mr Lyons at Clohenstad, Garristown, in an emaciated state.

The court heard their spines, hipbones, and ribs were showing despite them still having their winter coats. When inspected their hooves were seen to be cracked and in a state of neglect. One of the ponies was found unable to put weight on its hind leg and had an infection to its uterus. There was no feeders and lack of food available to the ponies with their only drinking source being puddles of water. Fields were muddy, water logged, and covered in horse manure with no equipment in place to keep any dry fodder in the area.

The court heard Garda Orla Keogh had the opinion they needed immediate attention and the animals were seized under the animal welfare act. The pony with the injured leg had to be euthanised and the remaining four, who were in various states of neglect, were transferred to My Lovely Horse Rescue.

The court heard on the same morning another property at Danestown Stud was searched where 45 horses were kept in a yard. Garda Clives told the court it was observed they were underweight and ill kept. There was no shelter in the yard and the ground was covered in a layer of slurry four inches in depth. The horses only had small amounts of poor quality hay in ground feeders to eat.

Gardai continued their search and found 40 horses in a barn who were also filthy and underweight. They had no access to outdoor space and there was a layer of manure and slurry on the ground going up the sides of the walls. The horses were forced to lie on the slurry or the feeding hay that was meant for consumption.

The court heard during their search of the barn Gardaí came across a distressing noise which was of a mare in the process of giving birth. It had fallen to the ground unable to get up and had a stillborn who was still connected to her uterus. A vet soon arrived and euthanised the mare on humane grounds.

A further 18 horses were seized because they were identified as needing immediate attention to survive. Two of these horses were euthanised while the remaining 16 were rehomed by an animal welfare trust.

Mr Lyons was given a notice on 15th March to carry out a number of steps to improve conditions for the horses. The next day an inspection took place on the request of Mr Lyons where it was noted all the improvements have taken place excluding the microchipping of horses.

During interviews with Gardaí he said the five ponies in the yard were examined by a vet who told him he was of the opinion they were in good condition. The court heard Mr Lyons was subsequently charged on both matters pled guilty in court on both matters.

The court heard he still owns seven horses and a recent inspection from a vet showed they were in good condition. The other horses have since been sold the court and Mr Lyons had €44,000 in court to pay My Lovely Horse Rescue for the cost of caring for the ponies that were confiscated.

Defending Barrister Martin Dully told the court the main problem was that there was "far too many horses" for the facilities that were available. BL Dully told the court that during Covid period people were giving their horses to Mr Lyons because they were either unable to feed the horses or lost interest in them and Mr Lyons willingly accepted them all.

The court heard two weeks before the search was conducted Mr Lyons was in hospital due to ill health and the defending barrister told the court due to this he was unable to move around and tend to the horses. The accused had others employed to move around and attend the horses but he accepts they were not properly instructed or trained and BL Dully told the court they “lost control of the situation”. The defending barrister told the court Mr Lyons previously kept his horses in proper condition before these events.

The court heard he has had a love for horses since early childhood and he has looked after them since he was able to buy a horse. The accused had a handwritten letter of apology submitted to court and Mr Lyons expressed through his barrister that he was ashamed of what happened after a lifetime of caring for them.

BL Dully told the court "Mr Lyons had a very tough upbringing" as the second youngest of twelve siblings. His father left the family before Mr Lyons was a teenager and the accused left school early, starting work as a coal delivery boy and taking "any work he can get". From this he moved for work in London, Los Angeles, and Germany for a number of years before returning to Ireland and working as a builder. He later set up a sub-contracting business, often working seven days per week. He is also married and has a son and two step daughters.

The court heard the accused has been a high functioning alcoholic since a young age which BL Dully told the court is now causing serious health issues for the accused. He has recently received a diagnosis for a brain illness which the court heard is likely progressive and debilitating.

The court heard the accused also has an outstanding tax payment of nearly €4.7 million, which was reduced from over €10 million. The accused is currently in default on his payments regarding this.

Judge Martin said on the excise charges "we’re looking at over €700,000 worth of tobacco" with a shopping list and small amounts found in his car to market the goods. BL Dully told the court in regards to this matter "it is what it is" and he was caught red handed.

The judge said the details of the neglect are "nothing but distressing for any right minded member of society to hear" and is of the view it did not suddenly happen over a two week period while the accused was in hospital. He also noted how Mr Lyons fulfilled the compliance notice in one day, saying "you were well able to put these matters right" but he waited until he was forced to do so.

The judge said he accepts the accused is probably an animal lover but "you have a strange way of showing it". He also said he’s not sure Covid can be blamed because travel restrictions were not in place for those owning and visiting animals.

Mr Lyons was sentenced to two years in prison with an addition 18 months suspended and was disqualified from owning or doing anything with animals for ten years. His son is to take ownership of his horses during the disqualification period.