Two Warley abattoir workers who beat pigs and stubbed out cigarettes on their faces have been jailed for 10 weeks.
Piotr Wasiuta, 29, and Kelly Smith, 40, tortured the animals moments before they were due to be slaughtered.
The pair were caught out when animal welfare group Animal Aid placed hidden cameras in their workplace at the Cheale Meats abattoir.
Members of the animal rights charity Animal Aid had wept as covert footage from the Cheale Meats abattoir was played at Westminster Magistrates’ Court but shouted ‘yes’ as the pair were jailed.
They admitted three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Smith was jailed for four weeks for beating the animals while Wasiuta was handed a six-week sentence for stubbing out cigarettes on their faces.
Magistrate John Newgas told Wasiuta and Smith: “There were aggregating features, you were both in position of responsibility to the animals, we think these animals were being kept as part of a livelihood.
“Weapons were used and several animals were affected. We do not accept that there was a culture of such behaviour.”
Simon Clements, Head of the CPS Welfare, Rural and Health Prosecutions Division said: “Wasiuta and Smith acted in a particularly cruel and violent manner towards the pigs in their care.
“I hope today’s sentences will be of some comfort to those rightly distressed and outraged by what we have seen.”
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