A Rider who paid more than £900 to have her beloved horse privately cremated became suspicious when its ashes were returned in a tiny casket suitable for a dog.
Sharon Widdows, 40, was horrified to discover that instead of receiving a dignified send-off, her thoroughbred gelding Otto had been turned into glue and fertiliser.
An investigation revealed that horse knacker Philip Cooper had duped a string of equine lovers in a scam worth thousands of pounds.
Trading standards officers launched an investigation after tests confirmed the remains were not Otto’s.
They found that 31 horse lovers had been conned by Cooper, 69. Instead of giving the horses a private burial, he dumped them with dozens of other animal carcasses and took them to a rendering plant where he paid £40 to have them made into glue and fertiliser.
The knackerman, of Chilcompton, Somerset, admitted fraud at Gloucester Crown Court and was given an eight-month prison sentence suspended for two years. He must pay nearly £53,000 in compensation to his victims.