- Bobby and Moira Roberts appeared at Northampton Crown Court accused of causing Anne, 58, unnecessary suffering
- Mr Roberts allegedly caught on camera kicking Anne in the trunk and then allowing his staff to abuse her
- The couple deny all charges and face a five-day trial
- Anne now lives at Longleat in a paddock with her own sandpit
By David Wilkes
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Accused: Bobby and Moira Roberts have been charged with animal cruelty after secret footage revealed they allowed their elephant to be beaten (file picture)
The former owners of Britain's last circus elephant instructed workers to keep her chained up and let a groom beat her, a court heard yesterday.
Anne the elephant was kept tethered for days with only a scattering of straw and displayed behaviour caused by stress, it was alleged.
Prosecutor Helen Law said Anne, who already had arthritis, rocked backwards and forwards which, as in humans, is a sign of distress.
At other times her leg buckled under her.
Her suffering was described on the first day of the trial of Bobby and Moira Roberts who are accused of animal cruelty.
They run Bobby Roberts Super Circus and Anne, a 59-year-old from Sri Lanka, started working for Mr Roberts back in 1957.
Her plight was captured in covert footage obtained by campaign group Animal Defenders International which placed a camera in the barn at the circus' winter quarters where Anne was kept when not on tour.
As well as being chained to the ground by one front and one hind leg, it showed she was hit with various tools including a pitchfork by one of the Roberts' employees.
Neither of the Roberts is accused of hitting Anne themselves but they are charged with failing to take reasonable steps to prevent her being hit by their staff.
Miss Law told Northampton Magistrates' Court that the grooms were 'plainly inadequately trained' and one clip from the footage showed Bobby Roberts kicking Anne's trunk in front of a worker.
'Bobby Roberts was happy to legitimise the use of casual violence on this elephant,' she said.
Other clips showed Anne being kicked and hit on the flank with a pitchfork by a worker.'
After the footage was first made public in the Daily Mail last year, police and the RSPCA visited the site in Polebrook, Cambridgeshire, and found Anne's environment had been significantly altered.
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Circus: Anne was kept her chained up for 24-hours-a-day and only un-shackled so they could swap which leg she was chained with, a court heard
New life: Anne now lives at Longleat in a giant paddock with its own sandpit for her to play in (pictured)
Fragile: Anne is 58 and video shown to the jury included footage of her being kicked and poked
Allegations: The prosecution say Bobby Roberts would boot Anne in the trunk
She was unchained and in an area of the barn deep with straw and cordoned off by an electric fence.
Miss Law said this was because the Roberts knew keeping her chained was 'not permissible under the required standards'.
But the RSPCA was still concerned Anne was not receiving appropriate medication for arthritis which she was diagnosed with in 2003, the court heard.
The owners agreed to hand over the elephant to Longleat Wildlife Park.
Bobby Roberts, 69, claims he instructed the groom only to keep Anne chained at certain times and to let her go outside when the weather was good.
Moira Roberts, 73, claims to have had nothing to do with the elephant's care.
The Roberts, of Oundle, Northamptonshire, each deny causing unnecessary suffering to Anne, failing to prevent employee Nicolai Nitu from causing her suffering, and failing to ensure her needs were met.
The groom is thought to have fled to his native Romania. The case continues.
VIDEO: Anne the elephant playing at Longleat...
Watch the whole film here
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