A Ceredigion farm where animal health inspectors found 85 dead cows was “more suited to a horror movie” than a rural farm, magistrates have heard.

In a case described by a vet as “the worst example of abandonment and suffering that he had witnessed in his career”, an inspection of Gilfachwith farm, Horeb, run by Margaret Jean Cooper and her son Richard Cooper found that the cows had been left without food, water and bedding for a lengthy period of time.

Sheds were also open to the elements and covered in slurry, and there were live cows in sheds with the carcasses of some of the dead cattle.

Margaret Cooper, 80, and Richard Cooper, 55, told Aberystwyth magistrates last Wednesday that they had both been suffering from health problems at the time, with Margaret Cooper virtually housebound because of injuries and illness and Richard Cooper suffering from depression and ill-health which had led to the problems.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to five charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, failing to comply with animal by-product regulations and failing to comply with an animal by-product improvement notice. They were given suspended prison sentences.

Prosecutor Maggie Hughes said council officials and vets had been left with “harrowing lifelong memories” from the scenes of “utter devastation” at the Horeb farm.

She said the condition of the cattle had been very poor and that in one shed they found carcasses piled on top of each other, with a vet ruling that the animals had been lain down to die on top of other carcasses.

Ms Hughes said Richard Cooper had been served with an improvement notice to dispose of carcasses and ensure remaining animals were properly cared for, but said those notices were not complied with, leading to the council seizing 38 other cows which received veterinary treatment before being sold.

Representing themselves in court, Margaret Cooper said she had not been aware of the condition of the cattle as she was unable to go onto the farm or in sheds because of injuries she had suffered.

While she was responsible for the farm’s bank accounts, she said she had no involvement in the day-to-day running of the farm and was only technically involved as a problem with paperwork meant she had not been able to transfer the farm to her son.

Richard Cooper said he took responsibility for the problems and that his mother had not been involved.

He said that the matters still weighed on him now and that he would “never forget” the situation the cattle had been left in.

He said that he had been suffering with depression at the time and had found it difficult to cope with the farm, insisting that he had been seeking help and had not received any support.

Presiding magistrate Caroline Whitehead said the “horrendous case” involved “sustained neglect” and imposed a six-month prison sentence on both defendants, which will be suspended for two years.

While Margaret Cooper’s sentence will be a standalone suspended sentence, Richard Cooper must complete 150 hours of unpaid work.

Both defendants were banned from keeping, owning or having any involvement in the management of animals for 10 years, although they will be allowed to keep their four pet dogs.

They will both pay prosecution costs of £2,500 and a surcharge of £115.