Farm worker in court over beating calf

A farm worker was sentenced in court today after beating a calf so badly it died. Photo / Thinkstock

A farm worker's angry lashing out at a calf has landed him in a Dunedin court.

Joshua Thomson has been sentenced to 120 hours community work, four and a half months home detention, ordered to pay reparation of $743 and has been disqualified from owning or having authority over animals for two years.

Thomson has admitted hitting a calf in the face with a steel pipe on a day he was frustrated and lost control.

The calf was blinded in one eye and was in such severe pain it needed to be euthanised.