The Court of Criminal Appeal has reduced from three years to six months a prison sentence imposed on a Co Cork farmer for injecting his cattle with slurry.
Cornelius Keane (38), who farms at Bawnbue, Drimo league, was convicted at Cork Circuit Criminal Court last May of interfering with diagnosis of bovine tuberculosis and of cruelty to animals in January 2000.
The court took into account an early admission by Keane, his plea of guilty, there was genuine remorse and Keane's previous good character. As a member of the farming community, he would have to live in the knowledge that what he had done was known throughout his community.