A HAMPSHIRE farmer must pay more than £3,500 for causing suffering to his animals through neglect.

Anthony Ransom, 57, denied the charges but was convicted after trial of 12 counts of causing unnecessary suffering to cattle and sheep on March 31 2015.

He was jailed for 16 weeks suspended for 24 months, because of his previous record of similar offending, Basingstoke magistrates court heard.

Ransom, of New Barn Farm, Alton Lane, Four Marks, near Alresford, was banned from keeping cattle or sheep for five years, with the sentence suspended pending an appeal.

Magistrates told him to pay a £115 victim surcharge and £3,387 legal costs.