CONVICTED (2024) | Jake Craven, born 11 February 1996, currently of Linnaeus Street, Anlaby, Hull HU3, and Megan Findlay, born 18 April 1999, of Victoria Park Avenue, Scarborough YO12 7TR – neglected three dogs, starving one to death.
Craven and Findlay were offered help with rehoming when the RSPCA and a housing association officer visited their flat in Victoria Avenue in Scarborough in March 2023.
Two Staffies – Coco and her puppy Tinker – and a terrier called Rex were among several dogs being kept in breach of the tenancy agreement. When the housing association officer returned to the flat a fortnight later, she was unable to get inside.
RSPCA Inspector Tom Hutton later tracked the couple down to where they were living on wasteland near the Grand Hotel in Scarborough on June 10.
Findlay told the inspector they were homeless and Rex had died, so she had wrapped him in a blanket and put him inside their tent.
Inspector Hutton said in a statement presented to the court that Findlay then let the two Staffies out of the tent and he could see they were both extremely thin.
Their hips and ribs were prominent and their spines were visible. Both dogs were anaemic and needed treatment in an animal hospital.
A vet who examined two-year-old Coco said the dog was emaciated with a body condition score of two out of nine. Her daughter, Tinker, a six-month-old Staffie cross, scored three on the same chart.
“Both dogs were suffering due to lack of nutrition and water and were losing body condition. I estimate they would have been suffering for around a month at least to have lost that much weight,” said the vet.
In mitigation, the court was told that Findlay suffered from psychological problems, including ADHD and anxiety and depression. Craven was said to have “secondary responsibility” for the care of the dogs.
Coco and Tinker have been returned to good health and will now be rehomed by the RSPCA.
Jake Craven with Coco and Rex, the dog he and partner Findlay starved to death
Speaking after the hearing, Inspector Hutton said: “The defendants had ample time to address the weight loss of their dogs. They didn’t engage with the RSPCA’s foodbank scheme or seek the support one of our branches could have offered them if they were struggling.
“They rang us to tell us one of the dogs was dead and we rushed over, but it was too late by then.”
Sentencing | Craven – 18-month community order with 25 days of rehabilitation. Three-month curfew. Findlay – 18-month community order with 35 days of rehabilitation; victim surcharge of £114. Seven-year ban (expires May 2031).
CONVICTED (2024) | Katey Elizabeth Cammish, born c.1988, of Hawthorn Walk, Eastfield, Scarborough YO11 3HW – locked a starved dog in a filthy kitchen
Cammish pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act in relation to the unnamed female lurcher-type dog. These included failure to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal and failure to ensure the needs of an animal.
Officers from North Yorkshire Police rescued the dog when they attended the property on a separate matter and found the emaciated pet living in a kitchen covered in faeces and urine with no water, food or suitable bedding. According to animal welfare experts, the smell would have been nauseating and distressing to the dog.
After being removed from the property, the dog drank copious amounts of water offered by the officers, indicating a rapid urgency to drink.
The dog’s ribs, vertebrae and pelvic bones were clearly visible and after being checked over by a vet, she was given a body condition score of 2 out of 9. She had poor muscle tone, no palpable fat on her body resulting in the protruding bones, signs of dry skin and overgrown claws.
Cammish claimed that she had left the dog in the care of someone else. She also told officers that the dog could not put weight on; this was however contradicted by the fact that the dog quickly gained weight after being taken into the care of the RSPCA.
The dog is now thriving, after being cared for by the RSPCA, and has been rehomed.
RSPCA Inspector Geoff Edmond said: “The police attended this address and found the dog in an appalling state, living in totally unsuitable conditions. The officers were very concerned and sought advice from us.
“The dog was immediately removed for her own safety and I would like to thank the police officers involved in this investigation who worked in partnership with the RSPCA to ensure she could receive the proper care and attention she needed.”
The dog recovered in the RSPCA’s care and was rehomed
PC Sam Thompson, of Scarborough Response Team, seized the dog and led the investigation.
He said: “As a dog owner myself, I was horrified by the conditions of both the dog and its environment. I am so pleased that the dog is no longer suffering. There is simply no excuse for anybody to keep an animal in those conditions and this case should act as a reminder for all pet owners, they have a duty of care and responsibility towards their animals.”
A second person who has not yet been named for legal reasons also pleaded guilty to one offence under the Animal Welfare Act and was disqualified from owning an animal for five years.
Sentencing | 12-week custodial suspended for 18 months; rehabilitation; £85 costs and £154 surcharge. Disqualified from owning an animal for five years (expires January 2029).
CONVICTED (2023) | Andrew Marwood, born 4 August 1995, of Manor Close, Kirkbymoorside YO62 6EP and Lee Pearcy of The Mile, Pocklington, York YO42 – for sickening violence towards a terrified pig.
Andrew Marwood kept his job with the unnamed pig production company despite being filmed assaulting a helpless pig
Marwood and Pearcy, employees of an unnamed Holderness pig production company, were fined for animal welfare offences.
Driver Marwood and fieldsman Pearcy pleaded guilty to offences under animal transport legislation for using violence likely to cause unnecessary fear, injury or suffering and for using prohibited handling techniques when loading pigs for transport.
The court heard how animal health officers from East Riding Council undertook an investigation after video footage of pigs being loaded onto a lorry at a farm in Wyton, Holderness, on April 24, 2023, was received from a member of the public.
The video showed Marwood lifting a pig, who was reluctant to load, by the tail and hitting her with a pig board (a board used to guide pigs when moving them). When the pig still refused to load onto the lorry, she was then hit on multiple occasions with a pig board by Pearcy.
The investigation found the pig company had apparently provided extensive training on the correct methods for handling and moving pigs.
Following internal disciplinary hearings, Pearcy was dismissed while Marwood was transferred into a driving role which does not involve handling livestock.
Sentencing | Marwood was fined £480 and £800 costs with a £192 victim surcharge and Pearcy was fined £384 and £800 costs with a £154 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | Crufts-winning dog breeder and pet boarder Linda Moran, her husband John Moran, and relative Stephen Laidlaw all of A1 Boarding Kennels and Cattery, Thorpe House, Gatherley Road, Brompton On Swale, Richmond DL10 7JH – kept more than 100 animals in stinking, dirty and inadequate conditions.
Local authority animal welfare inspectors visiting the premises of Linda and John Moran’s kennels and cattery found scores of dogs and three cats whose care was so poor they immediately revoked the dog breeding and dog and cat boarding licences held for the premises.
Amy Wennington, prosecuting for North Yorkshire Council, said its inspectors and a vet found more than 100 dogs at the premises in accommodation reeking of urine, with piles of dog poo, missing or inadequate bedding, and contaminated or no water.
There was no evidence that the dogs had been exercised or groomed or had access to play items.
Some of the dogs had matted and filthy hair.
There were also three cats, two of whom were in such poor medical condition they had to be put down.
Linda Moran, who bred Dogues de Bordeaux and Lhaso Apsos under the name Aibrean, pleaded guilty to six charges of breaching her licence conditions: two involved having too many dogs without sufficient staff to look after them, two of keeping dogs in unfit accommodation and not caring correctly for them, and two of not providing toys, socialising opportunities and grooming.
York magistrates heard she exhibited her own dogs and won awards at dog shows around the country, including two at Crufts 2022, six months before the first of two inspections.
For Linda Moran, John Goodwin said: “Her whole life centres around the love and care of dogs.”
He said that conditions at the kennels and cattery had deteriorated because she had taken in a lot of rescue dogs after the pandemic.
“She just couldn’t say no and matters overwhelmed her,” he said.
Her husband John Moran, who was also on the dog breeding licence, had moved to Spain for a better climate as he has terminal lung cancer.
Moran is now working with the RSPCA to reduce the number of dogs on her site and to ensure they are looked after properly, said the solicitor.
She now has 22 dogs and is expecting to reduce the number to 17 in the next six months. She is not taking in rescue dogs, said the solicitor.
He handed in an expert’s report giving details of conditions at the kennels and cattery in July 2023, which concluded that Linda Moran could look after dogs properly.
Magistrates ordered her to pay a total of £3,190, consisting of £2,100 fines, a £840 statutory surcharge and £250 prosecution costs.
They declined a prosecution application to ban her from keeping animals.
They said Moran had taken sufficient action to ensure that she was addressing the issues that had given rise to the prosecution and she was no longer taking in rescue dogs.
John Moran pleaded guilty by letter to three charges of breaching the boarding licence regarding the number of dogs on the premises, their living conditions and their care, was fined £1,050 and ordered to pay a £420 statutory surcharge and £250 prosecution costs.
Stephen Laidlaw was not present in court and did not enter a plea to three charges of breaching the breeding licence. The court heard that although he jointly held the breeding licence with Linda Moran, the council’s inspectors had never seen him on the site. He was convicted in his absence and was ordered to pay a £1,500 fine, a £600 statutory surcharge and £250 prosecution costs.
In April 2023 North Yorkshire Council announced that A1 Boarding Kennels and Cattery was no longer licenced either for the breeding of dogs or kennelling of cats. It was also reported that the business is the subject of an investigation into suspected modern slavery. offences
In 2005 the same premises was raided by RSPCA officers and 70 animals taken from the centre while investigations were carried out.
Ultimately the RSPCA decided not to prosecute the Morans with the couple going on to take legal action against the animal charity on the grounds that they lost business and suffered emotional trauma.
The RSPCA was called to the kennels by police on December 15, 2005, after a customer who called in to pick up their cat failed to find anyone on the premises.
Police found Linda Moran collapsed in the house and she was taken to hospital by ambulance.
Police officers then called in the RSPCA, whose inspectors said the conditions they found many of the animals in were “deplorable”.
Speaking at the time, Gerry Palmer, of the RSPCA, said: “It’s poor quality, dirty conditions that we found the dogs in. There were dogs running all over the place.”
In an exclusive interview with local newspaper The Northern Echo the Morans claimed the dogs had only been left unattended for one night.
A spokeswoman for the RSPCA said: “We are not pursuing a prosecution. Officers worked extremely hard at the scene in a bid to safeguard the welfare of those animals in very trying circumstances.
The outcome of the Morans’ case against the RSPCA is not known but recent anecdotal evidence on social media points to animal welfare being of very low priority at A1 Boarding Kennels and Cattery with many former customers raising concerns about the treatment of their pets .
CONVICTED (2023) | John Alan Langan, born June 1986, of 12 The Hawthorns Great Ayton, Middlesbrough TS9 6BA, Shane Hooton, born c 1992, of Thistle Hill Caravan Park, Thistle Hill, Knaresborough HG5 8LS and Joseph Foster, born 30 December 1987, of 78 Manton Crescent, Worksop S80 2RG and Dean Thomas Adams, born 27 November1995, of 7 Hebron Court, Stokesley, Middlesbrough TS9 5FD – for hare coursing offences.
Clockwise from top left: John Langan, Shane Hooton, Dean Adams, Joe Foster
Appearing in court on 9 October 2023 in relation to hare coursing charges were serial offender John Langan with his latest accomplices Shane Hooton and Joseph Foster. Dean Adams failed to appear in court and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Langan, Hooton and Foster pleaded guilty to the offences of trespass and going equipped to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs, under Section 63 and Section 64 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
This was in relation to an incident on 23 December 2022 when four men were stopped by Rural Task Force Officer Rich Fussey as they came off private farmland in Leven in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
They were in possession of running dogs without any permissions to be on the land.
John Langan was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months – the court felt the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence could be justified.
He was also given a ten-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering England and Wales with conditions around the control of dogs, not being on private farmland without permission and a complete ban on entering Humberside.
He was also fined £85 costs, £154 victim surcharge, disqualified from driving for 56 days and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid supervised work within the next 12 months.
Shane Hooton was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge and given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering the same conditions as Langan.
Joseph Foster was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial animal hoarder and abuser Lee Howard, aka Lee Howard-Smith, born 12 August 1966, previously of Middlesbrough but at the date of his latest conviction of Scott Road, Kettering NN16 9JY – kept animals in faeces-ridden home despite lifetime ban.
Howard was banned from keeping animals for life in 2006 after leaving 13 horses and ponies, 11 hens, four dogs and a rabbit to die of thirst and starvation in Trimdon, County Durham. The animals had been locked inside stables and left to die. Three dogs survived by eating the remains of the dead animals.
Just a few months later Howard was back in court after it was discovered he was keeping 11 dogs and 16 birds at a house in Delarden Road, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough.
The animals were kept in squalid conditions, with the dogs running around in piles of faeces and pools of urine. Six of them had problems with their paws and one had an ear infection.
Howard was given a further six-month jail term for breaching his ban.
Now Howard has received a suspended prison sentence after working as a paid pet-sitter. A licensed dog breeder that had used his services happened to see his name and photograph on an animal cruelty website and reported him to the RSPCA.
On January 6, 2023, police officers and an RSPCA inspector searched Howard’s home in Scott Road, Kettering, and found yet more animals living in filthy conditions without access to water.
Confined in the kitchen was a Boston terrier dog called Harriet, who Howard said he was looking after for a friend.
The floor of the kitchen was covered in faeces and there was no access to water and no proper bedding.
Bird cages were found in the lounge, with one containing an Amazon green parrot called Jud and the other housing two cockatiels called Paxo and Stuffing. Both cages were dirty with old food, faeces and no fresh water. Fish tanks with goldfish and tropical fish were also found.
Two female cats called Sooty and Blacky were discovered in a bedroom described as ‘almost floor to ceiling’ with belongings and old cages and tanks.
The floor was caked in faeces and both cats were infested with fleas.
Police also seized documents from as far back as 2012 with breeding and pedigree certificates, animal course certificates and even a judging education certificate from The Kennel Club found in a frame.
The dog, Harriet, was later taken back to her owner who was not aware of any animal welfare incidents relating to Howard. The court heard he had been looking after her since 2017.
The court heard that in his role as a pet-sitter for the breeder Howard had control of 15 dogs, four chickens and numerous finch-like birds and would be paid £35 a day. He looked after the animals on at least 15 occasions between August 2021 and August 2022 – including the odd overnight stay – and was even listed as a keyholder on the man’s council animal welfare licence.
In court, Howard pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable steps to ensure animal needs were met and breaching a disqualification from keeping animals.
Mitigating, Sewli Kuddus said Howard suffers from physical and mental health issues and has problems with self-care.
She said he has no family and has only recently been given a carer.
She said: “He had no-one to say to him ‘what you are doing is wrong’.”
Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Susan Haywood said: “I hope that now that he has been sentenced by the court the defendant will learn from this experience and not get animals which he clearly is unable to look after properly.”
Sentencing | 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. 20 rehabilitation activity days; costs of £400 plus £154 victim surcharge. Howard was also handed another lifetime ban from keeping animals and cannot apply to have it lifted for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2023) | Keith Williams, born 26 May 1963, of 15 Westmorland Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6DG – caught whipping and kicking Labrador on Ring doorbell.
Keith Williams was captured on camera abusing a terrified Labrador
The shocking footage showed Williams, who owns identical black Labradors named Scooby and Rambo, threatening to kill one of them after the dog had gone to the toilet in the street. He was also seen kicking the animal with force and hitting him with the end of a lead five times.
The court heard how footage from separate incidents on March 10 and March 17, 2023, was passed to the RSPCA., who prosecuted Williams under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Victim Scooby
RSPCA inspector Clare Wilson visited Williams’ Linthorpe home, on March 27 after viewing the footage showing him shouting, kicking and hitting the dog identified by the defendant as Scooby.
“We all went into the rear living room of the property. I observed the man who gave his name as Keith Williams,” said inspector Wilson. “He matched the description given by the witness and the male seen in the footage.
“I could see a black Labrador type dog in the small rear yard of the property, through the window. Mr Williams said the dog was called Scooby but he appeared to pause and think before saying this name.
“I told Mr Williams that I was investigating an incident that had been captured on CCTV relating to him and his dog, which was a suspected criminal offence.”
Scooby, who seemed to respond more to the name Rambo, was seized as evidence by the police and taken by the inspector for a veterinary examination before being placed in a private boarding establishment. At that point Williams declined to sign his dog over into the care of the charity and said he wanted him back.
The video footage was passed to a vet who also provided evidence in the case. He said it was his opinion that the defendant had handled the dog inappropriately and caused him to suffer.
“The actions of the owner have caused the dog suffering via pain and fear, even if only for a transient period,” he said. “The owner also did not protect the dog from injury.
“Examination by a veterinary surgeon 10 days later did not reveal any signs of lameness, bruising or injury to the dog, but these findings do not indicate an absence of injury. Blunt force trauma to a dog can result in pain, bruising and injury which may resolve within three to five days. Therefore an examination would not necessarily identify injury and bruising that had occurred 10 days earlier.”
Speaking after the conclusion of the case, inspector Wilson said: “The defendant’s behaviour towards his pet was totally unnecessary and unacceptable. Scooby could neither escape nor defend himself from being assaulted and we’re grateful to the person that alerted us and enabled Mr Williams to be held accountable for his actions”.
Scooby was later signed over into the care of the RSPCA. He made a full recovery and was transferred to one of the charity’s animal centres to be rehomed.
Sentencing | 12 month community order with 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement; costs of £2,214. A 10 year ban on keeping dogs.
CONVICTED (2023) | Daniel Hewitt, born 20 July 1998, of 32 Westfield Court, Redcar TS10 5QZ – left a dog to starve in a faeces-strewn cage.
Hewitt, who also uses his dogs to kill wildlife, was prosecuted in relation to a severely malnourished lurcher, described by an RSPCA inspector as a ‘walking skeleton’.
The dog, known as Flossy, weighed just 11.6kg – less than half her expected body weight – after she was inadequately fed for at least six weeks.
She had overgrown nails, a wound to her leg, sores on her hips, and was given a body score condition of only one out of five by a vet.
Hewitt admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Flossy by failing to address the cause of her poor body condition and weight loss.
Image taken by Flossy’s rescuer, who has kept her, shows he filthy conditions in which the dog was kept
The court heard how Hewitt kept Flossy at a flat in Cedarhurst Drive, Lingdale, Saltburn-by-the-Sea but moved out to live with his mother, Karen Bennison, who stayed in the same road. Flossy was left behind to starve in squalor but was rescued from certain death by a concerned member of the public.
The court heard that Hewitt continued to return to the flat and had been fully aware of Flossy’s deteriorating condition.
RSPCA inspector Garry Palmer, who investigated the case, took Flossy for immediate veterinary treatment after visiting the home she had been taken to.
The court heard that numerous attempts were then made to interview Hewitt about the situation but they were unsuccessful.
The veterinary surgeon who examined the lurcher, said: “At the time of examination, Flossy was suffering from malnutrition and I believe this would have been apparent to any reasonably competent adult.
“She weighed 11.6kg (25.57 pounds), whereas I would expect an otherwise healthy female, young adult lurcher to weigh approximately 25/30kg (55.1 – 66.1 pounds).
“Flossy gained significant body weight simply through receiving adequate nutrition once removed from the household. It is my opinion that the weight loss was a chronic process lasting no less than six weeks though likely longer. I believe this dog was caused unnecessary suffering by the person responsible for her.”
The pre-sentence report noted that Hewitt spent £10 a day on cannabis, but said he couldn’t afford to feed himself or Flossy.
Magistrates said they considered the offence had crossed the threshold for custody but recognised that the defendant had already spent 35 days in prison during the case for another matter. Instead, a community order was imposed.
Speaking after the conclusion of the case, inspector Palmer said: “If Flossy had not been removed from the flat when she had, I think she would have been dead within days as she was nothing more than a walking skeleton with her hips, ribs and spine clearly visible.
Flossy, who has been renamed Angel, is now doing well in a loving home
“She was in a shocking state of neglect but soon put on weight once she received proper nutrition and the right care. I’m delighted that she has gone on to make a full recovery with the person who took her on, as these later images of her show. We’d also like to thank the police for helping us to ensure this case was able to reach a conclusion.”
Sentencing | 15-month community order with 22 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 100 hours of unpaid work; £600 costs and £90 victim surcharge. Disqualified from keeping any animals for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2023) | racehorse trainer Gary Sanderson, born 9 July 1963, of Lilling Hall Farm, Moor Lane, Sheriff Hutton, York YO60 6RL – for cruelty and neglect relating to several mares and a gelding.
York Magistrates’ Court heard that Sanderson, who trades under the name Lilling Hall Racing or Lilling Hall Farm, looked after horses “that made money” for him but not those that did not.
During his lengthy trial, witnesses described how the RSPCA found horses in his care with lice and worm infestations, poor dental care, overgrown hooves, poor bodily condition and living without proper feed.
They also found that he had failed to get veterinary treatment for a wounded horse and one in poor physical condition, didn’t protect horses from pain and suffering and that one horse had been able to get into dilapidated farm buildings where she could be harmed.
Defence barrister Christopher Moran said the trainer and breeder “lives and breathes” horses and had done so all his life.
But his training licence was suspended when he was charged with the offences and he will not get it back, said the defence barrister.
Sanderson denied nine charges of cruelty or neglect of horses, all relating to mares he was using for breeding, and a gelding, but was convicted after a lengthy trial.
He intends to appeal the convictions.
District judge Adrian Lower told him: “You were well able to look after the horses in the yard because they made money for you. They were racehorses.”
He added: “You were not looking after the mares and gelding. There was no money in them. They were simply to be bred from so you could buy race horses.”
The judge said he suspected the British horse licensing authority would decide as a result of the convictions that Sanderson was “not a fit and proper person” to hold a training licence.
He ordered Sanderson to hand over the horses that he had been cruel towards or had neglected.
He decided against disqualifying him from looking after horses after Mr Moran said the RSPCA had inspected Sanderson’s stables twice since he was charged and had found nothing to concern them about the horses there.
The judge initially ordered Sanderson to pay the RSPCA’s prosecution costs of £94,482, but Mr Moran said he didn’t have the power to do so when a defendant didn’t have any money.
Both Sanderson and his wife, Lynne Sanderson, gave evidence that he doesn’t own any property and that he lives off his wife’s income from hairdressing and caravan businesses.
They said though Sanderson continues to breed horses, that business is not turning a profit because of the time delay between conception and the growth of a foal to a stage where it can be sold.
The judge said the RSPCA could sue Sanderson for the money through the civil courts.
Mr Moran said the lengthy court case had already been a punishment to Sanderson because it had affected his marriage and his mental health. The first court appearance was in 2019 and subsequent hearings were delayed by the courts’ closing during the pandemic and listing problems when they reopened.
Sentencing | deprivation order on the horses he abused. Ordered to pay the RSPCA’s costs (but claims financial hardship). Not banned from keeping horses or any other animal.
CONVICTED (2023) | Leslie Shooter, born c. 1966, of Constable Road, Hunmanby, Filey YO14 0LH – inflicted horrific injuries on a barn owl.
The barn owl suffered fatal injuries when it became caught in a rat trap set by Les Shooter.
On April 8, 2023, a dog walker discovered the badly-injured adult barn owl caught in a spring-operated trap in the allotments at Sands Lane, Hunmanby.
The bird was rescued and taken to a vet, but due to the severity of the injuries to its legs it had to be euthanised.
When spoken to by North Yorkshire Police, the tenant of the plot, Leslie Shooter, stated that he had set a number of traps to control rats. However, he had not covered the traps as required by law, resulting in the trapping of the bird.
In court, Shooter pleaded guilty to using an animal trap in circumstances for which it is not approved, causing a trap to be set to cause injury to a wild bird and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Sentencing | 100 hours of unpaid work requirement; £199 in costs and surcharges.
Spring-operated traps, often referred to as ‘Fenn’ traps, can be legally operated in the UK, but their use and target species is strictly controlled by legislation. Potential offences include use whilst uncovered, neglect in checking and use to capture wild birds.
We collate data on animal cruelty convictions in the UK
