A dog breeder accused of dumping two litters of new-born puppies in suitcases and leaving them to die walked out of court, branding the case "trivial".

Well-spoken Amanda Cheadle, 58, was due to go on trial accused of animal cruelty by keeping 15 collie pups in two cases in a locked cupboard under her stairs.

But she walked out before the five-day hearing started yesterday, telling magistrates: "These are trivial and extraordinarily minor offences."

RSPCA prosecutor Rowan Jenkins told Lewes magistrates Cheadle lied that the puppies had died and were buried in the back garden of her farmhouse in Bell Lane, Fletching, near Uckfield.

Officers became suspicious after they saw an adult dog lactating but no sign of any puppies.

Mr Jenkins said: "An inspector noticed a groaning noise coming from a locked cupboard under the stairs. A sergeant forced the lock and looked inside.

"There were two suitcases and when removed the noise stopped. On opening the smaller suitcase, four black and white puppies were found.

"Three were alive while one was dead and beginning to decay. In the second case there was a mass of bodies of much younger black and white puppies.

"It was difficult to tell which ones were alive and which ones were dead but they were all wet to the touch and very cold. Of the 11 younger puppies found in that case, four died."

He added: "For all of those involved it was a very distressing exercise and Cheadle appeared to be utterly un-concerned.

"They were quite simply left to die in these cases. Those that were still alive were reunited with their mothers and rapidly improved.

"Nevertheless they would have suffered from being separated from their mothers who they depended on for nutrition and warmth. They were, for whatever reason, deliberate acts of cruelty."

The court was told how police raided Cheadle's home after she refused to let them in, branding the RSPCA "animal pornographers", "GM terrorists" and "criminals".

In total, 26 dogs and a ginger cat were seized from the property after they were found in "squalid" and cramped conditions, it was claimed.

Cheadle, of Bell Lane, Fletching, near Uckfield, denies causing unnecessary suffering between August last year and February this year.

Before walking out, she told the court: "It seems pretty self evident that the RSPCA are going to win. I don't wish to participate in a process which is detrimental to my dogs."

The trial continues.