A man once dubbed 'Wales' gypsy horse king' has been jailed after he was found in possession of horse feed and seen tending to horses, breaching a criminal behaviour order that banned him from keeping animals for life.
Background of the case
Thomas Price, 62, from Bonvilston, was banned for life from keeping animals after a string of animal cruelty offences. In 2021, he was found guilty on 32 counts of animal cruelty relating to sheep and horses and sentenced to six months imprisonment. He received a further six months in 2022 for breaching the order by transferring ownership of horses and other animals to his then 16-year-old son.
Price, notorious for allowing hundreds of his horses to roam scrubland and streets around Cardiff, the Vale of Glamorgan, and Bridgend, has a history of prosecutions for mistreating animals.
Details of the 2021 conviction
In the 2021 conviction, the defendant kept his sheep and horses in 'atrocious conditions'. Animal health and welfare officers from the council discovered maggot-ridden sheep, carcasses, and unshorn animals when they visited his farm at Swn-y-Mor in Wick in August 2019. Many of the animals had to be put down by vets.
The following January, officers found horses kept by Price in 'appalling' conditions, with 240 horses standing in extremely deep mud and lacking food and water. Two of the sites were strewn with hazards such as sharp metal and barbed wire. At one site, the horses were kept in overcrowded filthy conditions with nowhere for them to lie down.
Price was charged with causing unnecessary suffering in relation to eight horses, some significantly underweight, while others had long-standing wounds caused by ill-fitting rugs. Officers seized 240 animals in total.
Latest breach and sentencing
Price was found to have breached the criminal behaviour order again in 2025. On December 3 last year, PCSOs patrolling Pengam Green in Cardiff found Price in possession of horse feed and other equine items including a rope and a pallet in Seawall Road. On December 18, the defendant was seen again in Seawall Road, with another person, tending to horses.
Price later pleaded guilty to three counts of breaching a criminal behaviour order. He appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Monday, June 1, and was sentenced by Recorder Angharad Price to 21 months imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay £187 as a victim surcharge.
