A 54-year-old man who kept horses in what a judge described as “harrowing conditions” has been jailed after pleading guilty to animal cruelty charges.

Geoffrey Lyons, of The Cottage, Macetown, Tara, Co Meath but originally from west Dublin, pleaded guilty to five out of 102 charges of cruelty in March 2023. The accused also pleaded guilty to possession of over 930kg of tobacco valued at €700,000, on which neither VAT nor revenue had been paid.