A couple left a herd of deer to starve to death at their Georgian mansion which they had been renting out as a luxury holiday home, a court has heard.
Five of the deer kept by Benjamin Rudge, 43, and Olena Lobunets, 47, died of malnutrition after being abandoned at Clermont Hall in Little Cressingham near Watton, Norfolk.
The fallow deer were in a herd of 14 being kept in a paddock without adequate food or shelter at the 18th century hall which was once the home of the 2nd Duke of Wellington.
Former technology company boss Rudge and Lobunets had been renting out the mansion and three cottages as a holiday home from £3,956 a week for up to 36 people at a time.
Five of the deer kept by Benjamin Rudge, 43, and Olena Lobunets, 47, died of malnutrition after being abandoned at Clermont Hall in Little Cressingham near Watton, Norfolk (pictured)
The fallow deer (one of which is pictured) were in a herd of 14 being kept in a paddock without adequate food or shelter at the 18th century hall
RSPCA inspectors visited the hall which was leased by the couple on February 17 last year after being contacted by walkers concerned at the condition of the deer
Letting agents described it as a 'stunning Grade II listed building, with its own outdoor heated swimming pool, sauna and hot tub' which would 'guarantee you a stay to remember on a fabulous country estate'.
King's Lynn magistrates heard how RSPCA inspectors visited the hall which was leased by the couple on February 17 last year after being contacted by walkers concerned at the condition of the deer.
One was found dead and another had collapsed while all others showed signs of being emaciated.
Their pen in the hall's 24 acres of woods and parkland was also bare of any grass and infested with molehills.
RSPCA workers began visiting to feed the animals, but four others also died including the one which had collapsed.
Rudge and Lobunets of Richard Foster Road, Cambridge, faced two counts each of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
One count related to five deer that died of malnutrition, and the other to the conditions that the animals had been kept in.
The case against them was found proved at a hearing last month which they failed to attend.
And on Wednesday this week, magistrates banned them from keeping deer for two years and made a deprivation order to pass ownership of the surviving deer to the RSPCA.
No costs were awarded and the couple faced no further penalty.
One of the deer was found dead when RSPCA workers arrived at the property. While another had collapsed while all others showed signs of being emaciated
Later, the one that had collapsed died alongside three other deer, bringing the total number of deceased animals to five
Jonathan Eales, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the earlier hearing that a housekeeper was employed to look after the property and the fallow deer but he did not have money for animal feed.
He added: 'Once a deer crosses a certain threshold with malnutrition, you can't bring it back no matter how hard you try. The deer is doomed from that point.'
Rudge and Lobunets who no longer lease the hall had denied there was any problem with the herd when interviewed, he said.
Mr Eales said post mortem examinations revealed the deer were severely under-weight and emaciated.
He said: 'These deer died as a result of neglect. They were malnourished, dehydrated, they were incapable of surviving in an enclosure where there was insufficient food and no shelter.'
