Muddy hell: cattle were kept without proper feed or shelter in a field, parts of which were under water Pictures: KEN AMER

A farmer was banned for life from owning livestock yesterday after keeping cattle without proper feed or shelter in a field of liquid mud.

The animals had given up trying to feed when they were confiscated by police and the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Orkney Sheriff Court was told.

Kathleen Helen Mitchell, 58, had kept the ''wet, dirty, and depressed'' animals in ''quite awful'' conditions, Sheriff Colin Scott Mackenzie said.

Video footage of the 38 cattle and the field was shown to the court.

Fiscal Roderick Urquhart said the video evidence showed clearly that parts of the field, in Harray, Orkney, were under water with the rest churned to mud.

''The cattle had given up attempting to graze,'' he said. ''There was simply no nutrition left in the land.''

There was no shelter apart from a stone wall and on one night the temperature fell to 1C with a light covering of snow on the field.

A Ministry of Agriculture vet had visited the field five times, Mr Urquhart said. On the last occasion he found the cattle to be wet, dirty, and depressed and it was obvious they were losing condition, he said.

''In the opinion of the vet, the animals were suffering and being subjected to unnecessary pain and distress,'' the fiscal added.

In a joint police and SSPCA operation, the cattle were seized and taken to the Thainstone Agricultural Centre, Inverurie.

Mitchell, of Grieveship Brae, Stromness, pled guilty to failing to provide the cattle with adequate nutrition and shelter to prevent unnecessary suffering.

Defence agent Iain Innes said his client was an invalid after ''dying'' and being brought back to life during a hysterectomy.

He said her sons had been putting hay and concentrates in the field for the cattle.

But because of the state of the land, the feed was not providing nutrition for the animals, he said.

''She is no longer going to act in this capacity,'' Mr Innes added.

''She is in future going to divorce herself entirely from anything to do with animals.''

Sheriff Mackenzie issued a life ban on Mitchell keeping livestock and ordered her to pay #2787 in compensation to the SSPCA.

The money will be paid to the charity from the proceeds of the sale of the cattle.

The SSPCA welcomed the outcome of the case, describing it as highly unusual for Orkney, where most farmers employ the highest animal welfare standards.

''The cattle were being kept in horrendous conditions - as bad as I have ever seen,'' senior inspector Mike Lynch said. ''They were standing in liquid mud up to 2ft deep - they were very dull, sad-looking animals.''