A primary school teacher who was sacked after appearing in a viral video which showed her striking a horse held back tears today after she was cleared of an animal cruelty offence.
Sarah Moulds, 39, slammed the RSPCA for unsuccessfully trying to prosecute her as she was found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, a grey pony she owned called Bruce Almighty.
Footage surfaced of her punching and kicking the horse on November 6, 2021, shared by the Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs campaign group, which claimed the video was evidence of ‘violence running through [the] veins’ of groups hunting animals for sport.
Moulds then lost her job as a primary school teacher after an investigation.
Jury saved her
But a jury of 11 men and one woman cleared Moulds of animal cruelty after just over five hours of deliberation following a three-day trial at Lincoln Crown Court.
She wept
Outside court, the ex-teacher wept as she hit out at the RSPCA for failing to engage with her, claiming that their case would have fallen apart had they visited Bruce to inspect him sooner after the incident.
Surrounded by weeping friends and family, Ms Moulds said: ‘They [the RSPCA] are an animal charity, whose concern is animal welfare. They are the only charity in the UK with the powers to prosecute.
‘They have been pressured to be seen to be ”doing something” by online bullies and ill-informed high profile individuals, wasting a phenomenal amount of public donations to bring a politically charged case.
‘At no point over the last 20 months have they asked to examine Bruce Almighty, my child’s pony, to see the environment in which he was looked after, or to check for injuries sustained.
‘If they had visited Bruce on the day after this incident, or indeed any day in the last year and a half, they would have met a perfectly healthy, well cared for and happy pony – as verified by an independent veterinary practice at our request.’
She slammed netizen
The rider also slammed those who conducted a ‘trial by social media’ after the footage went viral, saying she had been subjected to ‘premature judgements’ because a ‘snippet of video was taken out of context’.
Moulds told the court during proceedings the incident occurred after her pony wandered off during tacking along the road, which she says could have had a severe impact on his and any child’s wellbeing, had he been ridden at the time.
The reaction to the video, which was viewed millions of times, saw her receive ‘hand-delivered’ death threats – including one in a Christmas card, reports the PA news agency.
Claiming that the ‘principles of justice and fairness’ had been ‘upheld’, Ms Moulds added: ‘I adore my animals and have dedicated my life to teaching and nurturing young minds; it was heart-wrenching to be so wrongly and publicly maligned.
‘It is crucial to understand that what we see on the internet, especially on platforms like Twitter and Facebook, is often a fragmented version of the truth.’
However, while she has been ‘vindicated’ by the jury, she said her life had been irrevocably damaged because of her association with the footage.
