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A man had sex with a horse called Ruby, who he treated as his girlfriend, a court heard.

The horse's owner had become suspicious of George Smith, and one night found the 48-year-old standing on a wooden crate having sex with the mare at a stables in Hinckley.

At Leicester Magistrates’ Court today Smith was given a suspended jail sentence, reports the Leicester Mercury.

The court heard Ruby’s owner had suspicions about Smith, having previously spotted him coming out of her stable block with his shirt untucked and doing up his flies one day in 2016.

So what happened exactly?

Sally Bedford, prosecuting, said Ruby’s owner had been leaving her stables in the Hinckley area on March 10 when she spotted Smith just sitting in his car at Burbage Common.

She said: “She left at 5pm and noticed the defendant sat in a layby.

"She later spoke to her partner and they both went back to the stables, suspecting something untoward was occurring.

“Inside, she saw the defendant stood behind her horse on a wooden crate, holding his t-shirt up and he had the mare’s tail in his hand and was pressing hard against the mare’s rear end.”

After Smith was arrested the police searched his static caravan in Hinckley Road, Sapcote, where they found 10 soiled nappies, women’s underpants and a teddy bear.

A statement from Ruby's owner was read out in court.

In the statement she said she thought Smith had also abused another of her female horses.

It also suggested the owner was considering giving up her business at the stables, which involves caring for other people’s horses and ponies.

She said: "This incident has deeply disturbed me. Not only finding George in the stable but the implication it has had – I’m considering giving up the yard.

"I have a daughter who is the main rider of the animal.

"She’s now scared of going to the yard.

"Although she does not know the full facts she knows George has been arrested and she’s scared if we go to the stables George could be there and we could be in danger.”

The court heard that when the woman had mentioned to Smith she might sell Ruby, he replied: “You can’t sell Ruby. She’s my mate.”

"He seems fixated on her while I doubt he even knows my other horses’ names.”

What was said in his defence?

Rashpal Singh, representing Smith, told the magistrates that his client had no previous convictions and had admitted the offence to the police as soon as he was arrested.

He said: "This was an isolated incident. Mr Smith hasn’t been able to give me a coherent explanation to what led him to do such a thing."

He said Smith had two horses that he would sell straight away and added that his client usually worked as a handyman but had not had a job since his arrest.

He said: "Word has got around the area."

Smith, who had first pleaded guilty to the offence of sex with a living animal at Hinckley Magistrates’ Court earlier this year, was given a four-week jail sentence, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.

He was given a 10-year-old ban from contact with animals or acquiring children’s clothes or nappies.

He was also ordered to pay £200 court costs and made subject to a restraining order banning him from contacting Ruby’s owner or her daughter, or going to her stables in the next five years.

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