A WOMAN has been hit with a £50,000 fine and a prison sentence after being convicted of a string of cruelty charges against more than 100 animals.

Lynn Stoker (62) of Raw House Farm, Byrness, was sentenced at South East Northumberland Magistrates Court in Bedlington on Thursday.

Stoker had denied 11 charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, four counts of failing to ensure an animal’s welfare needs were met and one application for animals to be given to the RSPCA.

However, she was found guilty following a four-day trial last month.

The RSPCA made an application for more than £290,000 in costs to be handed over by Stoker. The figure consisted of court costs, housing the animals and veterinary bills.

Stoker was ordered to pay £50,000 costs, as well as a victim surcharge of £115, to be paid within 12 months.

She was also handed a 21-week prison sentence, and disqualified from owning an animal for life, with no chance of appealing the ban in court for 15 years.

Sentencing, district judge Bernard Begley, said: "This is a particularly serious type of offence. Significant costs have been incurred.

"I really can't find any redeeming features. This was a high level of suffering – some animals were euthanised.

"You have not shown a shred of remorse or contrition."

Read more in the Hexham Courant.