John William Cooper, 72, of Lawson St, was fined $2750 and banned from driving for three years in the Local Court this week.

He was convicted of offences including cruelty to an animal, failing to obey a police directive, using an unregistered vehicle, being an unlicensed driver, mid range drink driving and speeding.

About 5.10pm on April 7 police conducting radar checks on Great North Rd at Frederickton clocked a Holden Commodore sedan travelling at 85km/h in the 50km/h zone.

Cooper, the driver, was directed to stop by police but failed to do so, turning right into William St. He was finally stopped on Edgar St.

Cooper was subjected to a roadside breath test which returned a positive reading.

As he was talking with police Cooper said “can I tell you something? There are sheep in the boot”.

He opened the boot of the car to reveal two full grown Merino sheep crammed into it.

The sheep had been tied into the boot and were bleeding lightly from the mouth.

Police later discovered that sheep bleeding from the mouth was a sign the animals were overheating.

Cooper was told to remove the sheep from the boot to which he complied.

He was taken to Kempsey Police Station where he returned a mid range blood alcohol reading of 0.087.

Cooper told officers he had consumed eight stubbies of full strength beer before driving.

He said the sheep had been on agistment at a property at Collombatti and he was taking them home because he had heard there were wild dogs in the area.

Checks revealed Cooper had not held a licence since March 1987 and the registration on his car had expired on March 26, 2012.