A man has been jailed for two and a half years after keeping 102 dogs in “horrendous” conditions on a farm.

Nijamul Islam, of Farm Road, Edgware, was sentenced at St Albans Crown Court yesterday (Tuesday, July 4) for two charges of being in charge of a dog which was dangerously out of control in a public place.

The 44-year-old also pleaded guilty to three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals by not seeking veterinary care for them.

Islam had previously been given a 10 year ban on keeping dogs in November 2012 after he was convicted of 27 charges of cruelty towards animals – but was discovered to still have 102 dogs at Woodhill Farm in Great Amwell in 2014.

The site came to the attention of police when a woman who was employed by Islam to look after the dogs was savagely attacked by two German Shepherds on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 8, 2014.

The victim was rushed to hospital with life threatening injuries and required surgery to save her arms.

Today she is still receiving medical treatment and has been left “severely scarred”.

Following the attack, the two dogs then escaped the farm – but one was seized by PC Robin Juniper in Gascoyne Way, Hertford, while the other was found by the dog warden from East Herts Council in Hertford Heath.

Due to their “extremely aggressive nature”, they were both later destroyed.

Both police officers and officers from the RSPCA entered the farm later on the same day where they discovered more than a hundred dogs being kept in “squalid” conditions.

The animals, some of which were puppies, were kept in dirty kennels which were contaminated with urine and faeces.

They had inadequate bedding and no access to clean water or food.

There were also dead dogs on the site.

Of the dogs found within the farm, 40 had to be put down either because they were deemed dangerous by the RSPCA or had severe medical conditions and were suffering.

RSPCA inspector Steph Law said: “The conditions the dogs were kept in were horrendously squalid. It was filthy and most of the dogs had been left without food and water.

“Sadly we also found that a number of the dogs were very badly injured and had been left to suffer without veterinary treatment.

“It was sickening to see the scale of suffering as we worked with the police over four days to remove the dogs and bring them into boarding.”