A Co Tipperary father and son who introduced a BSE-infected animal into a herd to obtain State compensation have each been jailed for three years.
Thomas Snr (72) and Jeremiah Hickey (38) of Grange, Nenagh, were convicted last month at Nenagh Circuit Criminal Court of conspiring to defraud the Minister for Agriculture by placing an animal infected with BSE into a herd with the intention of securing compensation when the cattle were destroyed.
The infected animal was placed in a herd at Kilgariffe, Clonakilty, Co Cork, on September 29th, 1996.
Had the Herd Depopulation Compensation grant been sanctioned, the State would have been defrauded of an estimated £75,000 in compensation for slaughtering the cattle.