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Boxy the bull wins reprieve after TB result

 

THE INDEPENDENT
By Cathy Gordon, PA
14 April 2011
Boxy the prize-winning bull was given a reprieve from a death sentence by a High Court judge today.

The "much-loved" pedigree animal, full name Hallmark Boxter, had faced being destroyed after testing positive for bovine TB.

But Ken Jackson, of Forlorn Hope Farm in South Yorkshire, and his daughter Kate McNeil dispute the validity of the TB test that condemned their "unique and irreplaceable" showground champion.

They want a retest and are offering to pay for it themselves.

A positive blood sample was taken from the bull in April last year and officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) issued notices of intended slaughter, leading to the legal battle to save Boxy's life.

Mr Jackson, whose farm is at Stubbs Walden, north of Doncaster, named after an old battle site, argues that the officers who took the sample mixed two half-full vials in the field, contrary to written procedures.

Julie Anderson, appearing for Defra, argued that the bull poses a dangerous threat of spreading bovine TB and must be destroyed.

She submitted that there was "no evidence whatsoever" that the positive blood sample had been contaminated.

But at the High Court in London today Mr Justice McCombe granted Boxy a reprieve.

Mr Justice McCombe quashed the notices of intended slaughter, ruling that the test taken in relation to Boxy was flawed.

The matter will have to be looked at again in the light of his judgment.

He refused Defra permission to appeal, but the department could still make an application directly to the Court of Appeal in a bid to take the case further.

The judge, in rejecting the appeal application, said that it was "really a case about one animal" and the problem had been caused by "making a policy mountain out of what was a farm molehill".

He added: "I do not think further litigation should be encouraged."

On the question of costs Daniel Stilitz QC, for the claimants, said the Jacksons "are not wealthy people" and the case had cost them £28,000.

The judge ordered the defendant to pay £15,000 on account within 14 days.

A Defra spokesman said: "We are naturally disappointed by this judgment and will carefully consider its implications and our next steps, including whether to appeal.

"The judgment does not, however, undermine our comprehensive TB-testing regime for cattle."

In his written judgment, Mr Justice McCombe said his finding was that the bull's samples "were mixed on site".

The desire of the claimants, he said, had always been to have Hallmark Boxter retested.

When another High Court judge granted an initial injunction in their favour last August he "advanced this as the 'sensible course"'.

Mr Justice McCombe said: "That was obviously the sensible course then and it is surprising that it was not taken.

"However, Defra's position has always been that a retest would be futile on scientific grounds."

The judge said he did not consider it to be "appropriate to make a mandatory order for retesting".

He added: "The question of what are the appropriate steps now is, in my view, a matter for Defra, in the light of all that has happened, including the diverging opinions on the science that have come before this court and which it has not been possible to resolve.

"Obviously, in the light of all that has been discussed in this case, retesting, by any or all of the means discussed, should be seriously considered as one of the options open and should not be rejected out of hand, as it has been to date, simply because Defra's witnesses in this case have argued for the rejection of that option

"It seems to me that it would be desirable for these reasons that any further decision is made by officials not previously involved with the present case."

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