A knacker is a term now used for an animal slaughterer who slaughters animals not for food use.
Oddly enough the word knacker is from old Norse for saddle maker. The worn out bits from old horses' saddles, whips, etc were sent to the knacker, presumably for recycling into new saddles. The use of that part morphed into a person where they send worn out old horses to turn into glue, dog food, etc..
People past their prime talk of being "sent to the knackers' yard".
Apparently "knacker" is used in Ireland as a similar term to "chav" in the UK. So perhaps eventually chav and knacker will merge to "cream cracker" to describe a certain class of people in the British Isles.
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