Rugby Livestock Sales was fined £15,000 and ordered to pay costs of £8,000 by Warwick Crown Court on 6th February 2008 after pleading guilty to breaching sections 2 (1) and 3 (1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

On 26th February 2007 Andrew Truelove was trampled by a heifer, weighing 585kg (over half a ton), that had escaped from a penning area of Rugby Cattle Market. Inadequate measures had been taken to prevent livestock from escaping; as a consequence employees and others attending the market, nearby pedestrian areas and the adjacent railway station were insufficiently protected.

HSE Inspector Pamela Folsom said: "Anyone regularly handling animals in an environment which is unfamiliar to those animals should know that they are likely to be unpredictable in behaviour. An adequate system of working should therefore be in place, at all times, to contain the animals and protect those in the vicinity.

"Mr Truelove's injuries were severe and they will adversely affect his future; similar injuries could easily have been inflicted on passers-by and rail passengers when the heifer escaped from the cattle market and reached a station platform.

"Many incidents could be avoided if companies ensured that they had established a safe way of tackling a job and provided all necessary protective equipment. Precautions that need to be taken to protect people from animals are often simple and there is ample free guidance readily available to help companies take the right action."