The Cork’s Co. Sheriff will today make a second attempt to dispose of the entirety of the Kingston family’s Craden Hill Herd.
It comes following an announcement by Auctioneer Denis Barrett last week that the sale of half the cattle auctioned off at the first auction had fallen through.
It later emerged that the Kingston family had purchased over have of the stock at the sale but payment for the cattle did not go through as per the sales terms and conditions.
According to the New Land League the Kingston family had raised and offered €330,000 for approximately 500 cows. They had bid successfully on the cattle at the auction, but according to Peter Kingston were not able to get the funds cleared by the required deadline.
Last week, Sinead McNamara who visited the Kingston Craden Hill farm in December, said the vet who visited with her was ‘shocked’ at the condition of the animals at the time.
An affidavit from Cork Co. Sheriff Sinead McNamara to the High Court last week, states that she visited the farm on December 10, along with Sean O’Sullivan, a vet from Fermoy and both were shocked at the condition of the herd.
The affidavit contains details of a veterinary report from Sean O’Sullivan and states that the herd was in need of feed on December 11 when the Sheriff and vet first visited the farm. It goes on to say that Peter Kingston told the Sheriff and vet that he had ordered feed but that it hadn’t arrived yet.
The Sheriff also says that there was not enough suitable bedding for the herd and there was widespread lameness.
The vet’s report, which Agriland has also seen, states that the cows were of a Body Condition Score of 2. It also states that there was no vaccination programme for cows and calves on the farm, and the farm was also overstocked.
Peter Kingston, who farms at Novohal in Kinsale, was forced to sell his 950-pedigree cow herd after ACC Loan Management obtained judgement against him for loans of almost €2.5m against him.