Tag Archives: Northamptonshire

Equine Abuse, horses and ponies, Worst of the Worst

Rothwell, Northamptonshire: Kelly Hoyle

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CONVICTED (2023) | Kelly Hoyle, born 17 February 1981, of Glendon Road, Rothwell, Kettering NN14 6BS – neglected the welfare of two horses to the extent where they had to be euthanised.

Animal abuser Kelly Hoyle, from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire. Picture: Facebook

Hoyle, a jobless mother-of-three was banned from keeping equines for five years after a prosecution by the RSPCA.

In February 2023 the animal charity and police executed a warrant at a site in Northamptonshire, where the horses were being kept.

Reuben was put to sleep after being severely neglected by Kelly Hoyle from Rothwell, Northamptonshire
Reuben

RSPCA inspector Sue Haywood said: “In the first penned off area was a bay stallion, called Reuben. He had a worn/torn rug on and had a very subdued demeanour. It was clear the horse had a severely enlarged necrotic penis.

“The rug was removed and the horse was clearly underweight with the bones of the hips, spine and ribs being easily visible. The vet examined the penis and the whole shaft was enlarged and at the end was hard/dead tissue. The smell from the infection and puss was overwhelming and pungent.”

“Reuben was confined in an area where stables used to be erected, which was partly covered. There was no grazing at all and the hay/straw that was on the ground was old and mouldy and covered in faeces. There was no access for the horse onto grass as all of the gates were closed shut. Water was available in a plastic tub.

“There were numerous hazards in the pen, such as broken glass from a window frame and a garden fork with the prongs upright.”

A vet advised that Reuben should be put to sleep on welfare grounds as this was the kindest option for him.

Tia was malnourished and in poor health following months of neglect by Kelly Hoyle from Rothwell, Northamptonshire
Tia

They then examined another horse called Tia who was in a very lean body condition with the bones of her ribs, hips and spine prominent through her skin. She also had large melanomas near her anus.

Tia was removed and given round the clock vet care, but her condition didn’t improve and she was also suffering from colic. Sadly she too was put to sleep for humane reasons.

Ms Haywood said: “This suffering could have been prevented by adequate attention and appropriate veterinary treatment. It is vital that owners provide veterinary care should their animal need it – which was not the case with this.

“In my whole career as an RSPCA inspector I have never seen anything like this the condition of Reuben and I along with everyone else there was completely shocked by the condition of the horse.”

Hoyle admitted one count of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and another of failing to meet an animal’s welfare needs.

The court heard in mitigation that Hoyle was very remorseful. She conceded that she should have arranged veterinary treatment but said she had personal difficulties and claimed her fields had been vandalised.

Sentencing | 23 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; rehabilitation; costs and surcharge totalling £654. Banned from keeping equines for five years (expires December 2028).

Northampton Chronicle
Northants Police

Terms of Kelly Hoyle’s court-imposed disqualification order:

Hoyle is disqualified from the following in relation to all equines:

  • Owning any equine(s);
  • Keeping any equine(s);
  • Participating in keeping any equine(s) and from being a party to an arrangement under which she is entitled to control or influence the way in which they are kept;
  • Dealing in any equine(s);
  • Transporting any equine(s); and
  • Arranging for the transportation of any equine(s)

This order shall be enforced from November 29, 2023, for five years or until further order.

No application under s43(1) for termination of this order may be made for five years.

Update | March 2024

Hoyle was back in court on March 29, 2024, after breaching her ban.

In February 2024 she was spotted by a member of the public riding a horse in a field off Stoke Road, Northampton. This triggered an inspection of her premises and police officers found two horses they believed to be in Hoyle’s possession

Investigation showed they had been sold for £40 to a local farrier, but not until January 2024, meaning they had been owned by her for two months after her ban had come into force.

Mitigating for Hoyle, Richard Bolch said: “She’s been in and around horses for all of her life. One of these horses was nine and one was 14. They were middle aged and a pensioner.

“When the original order was made in November there were discussions between her and various people about her two remaining horses but the official transaction didn’t happen until January.

“One of the horses was very difficult to handle and she wanted to be sure she trusted the person she was selling it to.

“She went about things the wrong way.”

Mr Bolch said that she was receiving treatment for mental health conditions and had been engaging well with mental health services.

A probation officer in court said that activating the suspended sentence would have a ‘catastrophic’ effect on Hoyle.

Sentencing Hoyle, Deputy District Judge Samantha Rastogi said: “This was an unfortunate incident and has put you at grave risk in terms of your suspended sentence.”

However, the judge said that she was satisfied that Hoyle had been attempting to comply with the order and warned her that she must be more open with probation officers in the future.

She was given a further six months on the end of her 23 week suspended prison sentence, meaning it now runs for 18 months. She was also ordered to pay a £120 fine, £48 victim surcharge and costs of £85. The amounts will be deducted from her benefits at a rate of £20 per month.
Hoyle was warned that if she breached the sentence again she ran the risk of being sent to prison.

Northamptonshire Telegraph

hare coursing, Organised Animal Crime, Traveller Animal Crimes, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Coventry, West Midlands / Rushden, North Northamptonshire: Darren Lee and Ronnie Doherty

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CONVICTED (2023) | hare coursers Darren Lee, born c. 1996, of Top Road, Barnacle, Coventry CV7, and Ronnie Doherty, born 28 March 2001, of Newton Road, Rushden NN10.

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire
Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

Gypsy travellers Lee and Doherty both pleaded guilty to charges of trespass with intent to pursue hares with dogs in August 2022.

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

The pair were prosecuted after being caught hare coursing in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire. One incident took place in Gedney Dyke and the other in Whaplode Drove.

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

They were arrested when a witness used binoculars to note a Jaguar’s registration plate as they fled Middle Drove, Gedney Dyke, after being seen bundling sighthounds into the vehicle.

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

Prosecutor Paul Wood said a phone seized from Doherty contained voice messages and conversations about hare coursing as well as photos of leaflets of Lincolnshire Police’s combative Operation Galileo and the new legislation.

There were also 13 videos of hare coursing activity, with at least one filmed that day.

“Mr Doherty narrating ‘this is how me and young Darren goes coursing, boys,’” Mr Wood said.

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

In light of the pleas, the Crown Prosecution Service withdrew a similar charge relating to West Pinchbeck and a charge of hunting a wild mammal elsewhere in South Holland, both on the same date as the offences which they admitted.

Jason Patel, mitigating for both men, said that hare coursing “is an activity which is unfortunately entrenched in their history.”

He added: “These young men will have grown up with this activity around them.”

Ronnie Doherty, a traveller and wildlife criminal based in Rushden, North Northamptonshire

Lee and Doherty were the first in Lincolnshire to be charged under new laws to tackle illegal hare coursing.

The Police Crime Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, which passed into law on 1 August 2022, made it an offence to go equipped for, search for, or pursue hares with dogs, and an offence to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs.

Those convicted of doing so face an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison.

It also allows courts to order a reimbursement of the costs of kennelling which is paid for by the police.

Sentencing | Lee and Doherty were each ordered to pay an equal share of £11,144 for kennelling and veterinary costs. They were banned from keeping dogs for five years. The rehoming order was suspended until 31 March 2023 to enable them to rehome their dogs

The court issued an order to Doherty for the forfeiture and destruction of a thermal scope used to detect body heat of hares.

BBC News
Spalding Today

Equine Abuse, horses and ponies

Rothwell, Northamptonshire: Claire Jones

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CONVICTED (2023) | Claire Jones, born 28 September 1973, of Market Hill, Rothwell, Kettering NN14 6BW – kept horses in ‘cruel and degrading’ conditions.

Horse abuser: Claire Jones from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire. Picture: Facebook

Jones was prosecuted by the RSPCA after inspectors found two of her horses with lice, cracked hoofs and urine scalds. Both were so lean that bones were visible.

Horses starved and neglected by Claire Jones from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire.
Claire Jones’s were found with lice, urine scalds and cracked hoofs

On April 14, 2022, an officer from World Horse Welfare attended the Rothwell yard where Jones was keeping her horses and found the stable to be very dirty with a strong smell.

Prosecuting, Janita Patel said: “Both [horses] were found to be in a very poor bodily condition.”

The filthy stable where neglected horses were kept by Claire Jones from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire.
The horses were kept in a dark and dirty stable in their own faeces, with no straw bedding.

The officer gave Jones advice on the horses and cleaning up the stable.

On two occasions over the next 10 days the RSPCA attempted to visit but the gate was locked. They applied for a warrant, before returning with police and a vet on April 28.

They found 12-year-old mare Pixie and two-year-old colt Gary in conditions which were ‘unsuitable and unhygienic’ with no proper bedding.

Horses starved and neglected by Claire Jones from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire.

Pixie was so thin that her ribs, hips and spine were clearly visible. She had patches of hair loss, obvious evidence of a lice infestation and her hoofs were overgrown, cracked and split.

Gary was excitable when he came out of the stable. His bones were clearly visible with hair loss and lice. He had hard matted faeces stuck to his hair because there was no bedding and he had to lie on the stable floor. Gary also had urine scalds on his leg and his hoofs were also overgrown, cracked and split.

The ground of the stable was saturated with urine .

Ms Patel said: “It’s shocking [that] they could be kept there 24/7.”

Horses neglected by Claire Jones from Rothwell, Kettering, Northamptonshire.

A vet said that they had suffered for several months. A farrier who examined the ponies in May was of the opinion that their hoofs hadn’t been trimmed for between six and eight months.

Ms Patel said warning notices had been sent to Jones but that she had failed to accept the advice.

She said: “They have fallen on deaf ears.”

When she was interviewed Jones said she had little equine experience and that she used to use straw but that Gary would eat it.

The court heard she thought the skin issues were caused by fleas and treated it with white vinegar but that she didn’t notice the sores.

Ms Patel said Jones agreed that the horses were a bit lean and that the stable was a ‘shit tip’.

She told the RSPCA that money wasn’t an issue and that she didn’t know why she hadn’t got a vet out.

She later signed the horses over and admitted three animal welfare offences, including two of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

District Judge Amar Mehta told Jones she was lucky the animals survived and that her offending crossed the custodial threshold – but that she had escaped going to prison by ‘a whisker’.

He said: “You kept these horses in a condition which, when one looks at the photographs, makes the court shudder.

“That is not how to keep animals. You kept them in cruel and degrading conditions.”

Sentencing | 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; costs and surcharge totalling of £654. Disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.

Northamptonshire Telegraph

Dogs, Lifers, Worst of the Worst

Finedon, North Northamptonshire: Laura Baverstock

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CONVICTED (2022) | Laura Baverstock, born 5 December 1981, of 26 High Street, Finedon, Wellingborough NN9 5JN – dug a grave for her dog as he lay dying from unexplained ingestion of a significant quantity of antifreeze.

Baverstock, who has links to Luton, Bedfordshire, should have sought veterinary care for her German shepherd Rek, who became severely ill with symptoms of antifreeze poisoning.

But instead, she told her neighbours he was dying and a hole was dug in the ground while he continued to be in pain. The RSPCA tried to intervene but nobody answered the door.

On August 31, 2022, the 40-year-old was jailed for 18 weeks in what a prosecutor described as being close to one of the worst cases of its kind.

The court heard that on October 9, 2018, Baverstock approached her neighbours and asked if they would assist in digging a hole so Rek could be buried. Her neighbours, who had heard the dog barking that day, asked what his condition was.

Prosecuting, Adam Williams said: “They were told he was not dead but was dying.”

Baverstock’s neighbours refused to help dig the grave and instead went to see Rek. They described him as appearing very ill and weak and droopy eyed, the court heard.

They were so concerned they called the RSPCA who dispatched an officer to the High Street flat. When he arrived the lights at the address were on but nobody answered the door and a calling card was put through the letterbox. He went to the communal back garden where he saw the hole had been dug but was empty.

The next day at 10.30am another RSPCA officer attended and was told that Rek had died overnight.

Rek

Baverstock said her dog had eaten weedkiller three days earlier. The court heard that she said she had spoken to a vet she found on Google, who said that he would be sick but would be fine.

Rek’s cause of death was found to be renal failure from antifreeze poisoning. The court heard that, because of the size of the dog, he must have had at least two-thirds of a pint of concentrated antifreeze for renal failure to kick in. There was no finding of fact over how the antifreeze entered his system.

Mr Williams said: “This is not something that would have been found in weedkiller. This is not something the animal would have stumbled across in any safe home or outside area.”

Rek was also found to be suffering from heart and lung disease – and that any ‘reasonable’ dog owner would have noticed a change in their behaviour weeks earlier.

Mr Williams added: “Putting the antifreeze aside there should have been at least a three week warning that the animal was sick.”

Baverstock was later charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and denied the offence but was found guilty after a two-day trial in July 2022.

The court heard mitigation that she ‘clearly cared a great deal for Rek’, demonstrated genuine emotion at the trial and had the case hanging over her for four years. Her legal representative argued the case for a community order.

But magistrates instead sent her to prison for 18 weeks and banned her from keeping animals for life, with a minimum period of 10 years before she could apply for the disqualification to be lifted.

Chair of the bench Richard Hawkins said there was no question that she had caused unnecessary suffering to Rek.

He said: “It’s really quite appalling what happened.”

Sentencing | 18-week custodial sentence; £7,462.60 in costs. Lifetime ban on keeping animals.

Northants Telegraph

Additional Information

Baverstock lives with a partner and it’s unknown why he wasn’t also charged with animal cruelty.

A former neighbour of the pair told us this:

“I’ve reported them for cruelty to animals a number of times as I’ve heard them hitting the dogs, shouting at them. The previous dog before Rek they kept in a communal cupboard, no window no warmth and this was through the snow and freezing weather so I reported that too. The RSPCA and the dog warden were involved, then that dog disappeared.

“I honestly had fpir years of hell living beneath them, everyone who knows me knows how much I love animals and I’d do anything I can to protect them so as you can imagine having to hear those psychos treat their animals the way they did and not being able to doanything other than report them was so heart breaking….

“Because I reported them for Rek myself and my family were threatened on a daily basis from them, my children had knives waved at them out the window, I was chased with a hammer swinging it at me.

“We had four years of absolute torture but we are finally away from them in a new house but now they torture the new tenants of our old flat…

“They are horrendous and get away with because they just don’t answer the door to anyone, not the RSPCA, the police no one… I can’t tell you how ecstatic I am that something has been done.”

Animal Abandonment, Dogs, Worst of the Worst

Northampton, West Northamptonshire: Jade Roberts

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#MostEvil | Jade Abigail Roberts, born 30 November 1995, previously of Kensington, Liverpool and now of Ash Street, Northampton NN1 – shut her pet dog in a cage and went on holiday for 14 days.

Daisy (pictured) was locked in a cage and left to die by her cruel owner, Jade Roberts

On July 31, 2021, mother-of-two Roberts left her property in the Kensington area of Liverpool – and her 18-month-old Staffy named Daisy – to stay at a caravan park in Prestatyn, North Wales.

An RSPCA inspector went to the defendant’s address on August 10, 2021, after they received information a dog had been abandoned at her home.

Peter Mitchell, prosecuting, said: “They looked through the letterbox and were hit with the smell of decomposing flesh. She could see the property was filthy with clothes and rubbish strewn on the floor

“She could see a dog cage and did try to gain entry through the yard but that was flooded with rubbish bags. The following day, a housing officer contacted Miss Roberts as she was away at the time.

“Her sister let an RSPCA inspector in the property and found a dead and decomposing white Staffordshire Bull Terrier.”

Dog killer Jade Roberts now lives in Northampton

The court heard the dog was locked in a cage that was “filthy and littered with faeces” and there were three bowls in the crate – one of which was upside down while the second was empty and the third contained dog food.

Roberts went away on holiday with her children and was away for some 14 days, claiming she had arranged for a friend to look after the dog and provided for money and food.

Mr Mitchell added: “She refused to disclose the details that person and indicated she was heartbroken and angry the friend had let her down. A veterinary surgeon couldn’t be sure how the dog had died.

“Clearly, it was locked in a cage and there had been insufficient water. It’s difficult to say when the dog died as it depends on conditions on the property, the heat and things of that nature. The defendant does not have any previous convictions.”

The court heard how legal proceedings had “weighed heavily on her mind” and Roberts had “really struggled with the whole process and not knowing what’s going on”.

Stephen Langton, mitigating, said: “She had Daisy since she was eight weeks old. There’s no evidence of any previous welfare issues with the dog. It was a family pet and is very upset about what happened.

“She ended a 10-year abusive relationship with the father of her two children in June 2020 after a serious assault. The matter was reported to the police and went before the courts and he was convicted.

“After that Miss Roberts has been attempting to move away from the Liverpool area to get away from him. Even though a restraining order was in place, she was fearful that he could resurface and that was part of the reason why she ended up going away in July.

“She accepts she showed very poor judgement in leaving the responsibility to someone else to look after the dog while she was away. The children were very, very upset about the whole thing.”

Daisy

Her ex-partner has not been in any sort of contact since she’s moved to Northampton, the court heard, and she has “no intention” of seeing him again.

Mr Langton added: “The children are totally reliant on her and a custodial sentence would result in the two children going into care. She’s clearly a responsible mother who dotes on her children and they are her life.”

Suspending the 12-week custodial sentence imposed on Roberts, magistrates told her: “We are suspending the sentence because of your significant mental health issues which we believe are best dealt with and helped in the community and for the benefit of your children who have health requirements of their own.

“Don’t be tempted in any way, shape or form to bring any animals into your property or be controlled.”

Sentencing | 12 weeks in prison, suspended for a year; 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days; six months of mental health treatment; £500 costs to the RSPCA. 10-year ban.

Northants Live
Liverpool Echo

Dogs, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers

Northampton: Vince Shelton

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CONVICTED (2022) | Vince Shelton aka Vince Dzongera, born 29 May 1989, of Birchfield Road East, Abington, Northampton NN3 2BZ – banned from keeping animals after a puppy was found with an unexplained leg fracture.

Zimbabwean national Shelton was found guilty of two animal welfare offences following a trial in his absence. The lout caused unnecessary suffering and failed to meet the welfare needs of a male Cane Corso puppy named Arturo.

The RSPCA were contacted after the puppy was diagnosed with a fracture on his tibia. Shelton failed to return to the vet with the puppy for further treatment – despite follow up calls.

RSPCA Inspector Helen Smith attended a location with the police in March 2021 and the puppy was seized by the police. Arturo was alert and responsive but was not fully weight bearing on his hind leg and had no dressing on his injury.

A vet who examined the puppy said in their professional opinion the failure to seek further veterinary care caused Arturo unnecessary pain and suffering.

Speaking after the case Inspector Smith said: “The defendant had failed to protect Arturo from pain, injury and suffering due to him not following appropriate veterinary advice for the fracture of the left tibia.

“As a result of the lack of treatment, the vet reported that the dewclaw on the left hand appeared to have discharge from it and it was damaged and coming away from the leg at the base.

“As a pet owner, we all have a responsibility to protect our pets and to get veterinary treatment if they are suffering – as in this incident poor Arturo would have suffered as a result of such a serious injury.”

Arturo and also a second puppy Vanya were signed over to RSPCA care. Arturo has been in the care of the RSPCA with a foster carer and has since made a full recovery.

Sentencing: ordered to pay a total of £650 in fines, costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years.

Northants Live
Northamptonshire Chronicle

Dogs, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Northampton: Chayne and Tyler Mason, Tracy Welsh

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#MostEvil | Chayne Robert Mason, born 25 April 1974, of 61 Gloucester Crescent, Northampton NN4 8PP, Tyler Mason, born 4 September 1999, and Tracy Ann Welsh, born c. 1971, of 253 Harborough Road, Northampton NN2 8DW – killed their dog by firing a nailgun into his skull twice.

Chayne Mason and Tracy Ann Welsh
Chayne Mason and Tracy Ann Welsh

Father and son Chayne and Tyler Mason both pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the dog – a Staffy named Buddy.

The pair appeared in court along along with Tyler’s mother, Tracy Ann Welsh, following the incident at an address in Harborough Road, Northampton.

On November 11, 2921, Chayne and Tyler Mason took four-year-old Buddy outside and each shot him in the head using the nail gun.

Believing Buddy was dead, the men left him outside. However, the next day they discovered he had survived the horrific assault, and removed one of the nails from his head, causing it to bleed.

Tracy Welsh, Picture: Facebook

Instead of taking Buddy to the vets or seeking medical assistance, Welsh cleaned the wound and gave the dog pain killers. Two days after later, a third party contacted the RSPCA to raise their concerns.

Officers from the RSPCA and Northamptonshire Police attended the home of Tyler Mason and Welsh, where they found Buddy clearly suffering and in a lot of pain from his injuries.

Buddy was immediately taken to a veterinary surgery for emergency treatment, where he was sadly put to sleep.

Chayne Mason. Picture: Facebook.
Chayne Mason.

PC Chloe Gillies of the Rural Crime Team, who led the investigation, said: “Buddy was treated in such a cruel and inhumane way. He was not treated like a loved family pet and instead he was left to suffer in pain.

“The family stated that Buddy was an aggressive dog at times, which is why they did what they did, but there is just no excuse for this unacceptable act of cruelty or their barbaric behaviour.

“There are many routes to go down if you would like to rehome your dog, even if it is aggressive. Do not take matters into your own hands. You can contact your local vets or an animal charity to discuss how best to move forward.”

Sentencing: 100 hours of unpaid work each. Chayne Mason and Tracy Welsh were both ordered to pay £500 and £292 compensation respectively, £95 victim surcharge and £85 in costs.

Tyler Mason was given no financial order due to a lack of means

All three were banned from owning or being involved in keeping dogs for the next five years.

Northampton Chronicle
Northants Live

animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, Dogs, foxes, hunting with dogs, hunts, Organised Animal Crime, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Chulmleigh, North Devon: Eggesford Hunt terriermen Seward Folland and Nathan Bowes

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CONVICTED (2021) | Seward Folland, born c. 1946, of Twenty Acres, Puddington, Tiverton EX16 9PE and Nathan Bowes, born c. 1995, of the Bothy Kennels, Station Road, Brixworth, Northampton NN6 9BP – filmed interfering with a badger sett as they tried to flush out a fox

Eggesford Hunt terriermen Seward Folland and Nathan Bowes

Folland and Bowes were filmed by hunt saboteurs as they blocked entrances to badger setts at Chulmleigh, Devon, in November 2019.

Bowes was convicted of two offences, and fined £940.

Folland was fined a total of £732 for one offence.

Both men, from the Eggesford Hunt, said the setts were inactive at the time of the incident, but Deputy District Judge Roderick Hine ruled they were in use.

Bowes, who was a kennel man, told the court he was there to “humanely dispatch” a fox which had gone to ground.

Fox-hunting terrierman Seward Folland

Terrier man Folland, with 45 years’ experience, said Bowes laid nets to “bolt the fox in the net to be humanely destroyed”.

Judge Hine said their convictions were based on the grounds of “recklessness rather than deliberate interference”, and said they failed to carry out proper inspections of the setts as they were in a “hurry to get the fox out”.

Wildlife killer: Nathan Bowes from Northampton

Greg Gordon, prosecuting, told the court that four hunt monitors were watching the Eggesford Hunt when they filmed the two defendants in woodland.

He said both men were trying to flush out a fox and the footage showed them blocking the entrance to the setts with earth, debris and nets.

Alex West, defending both men, said Folland had made a mistake and said the conviction for Bowes would be significant as he still works in the hunting sector.

BBC News

Dogs, Pet Theft, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Luton, Bedfordshire: Deon Ellis

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CONVICTED (2021) | Deon Ellis, born c. 1989, said to be of no fixed abode but with a last known address of Fallowfield, Luton LU3 and with links to Corby, Northants – stole a puppy before stabbing him and deliberately running him over with his van.

Persistent criminal Deon Ellis
Persistent criminal Deon Ellis

Deon Ellis savagely attacked ‘XL bully’ dog Hugo, who was just four months old at the time, leaving him for dead in the road.

Hugo was later found with serious injuries and knife wounds by volunteers who had searched through the night for him following a social media appeal. The young dog had to have life-saving surgery which was paid for by public donations.

The court heard Ellis had been involved in a dispute with Hugo’s family and stole the dog in ‘revenge’ while he was being walked.

Witnesses reported Ellis grabbing and lifting the dog by his collar before leaving the scene.

Victim Hugo
Victim Hugo

Hugo was then taken more than 60 miles away to Corby where a woman heard a dog cry out in pain and Ellis driving towards him. He was then seen swerving the van to make sure he hit the animal.

The puppy was later found and taken to a vet with lacerations which were consistent with stab wounds. Blood splatters which were linked to Hugo’s DNA were found in the back of the van which was recovered in the town.

The court heard Ellis, who appeared over video-link from HMP Peterborough, callously refused to give Hugo’s owner details of what he had done to the dog.

The court heard that Ellis’ previous convictions included possession of a firearm in 2015.

Ellis was convicted by a jury of theft of a dog and criminal damage to a dog.

Recorder George Keightley told Ellis it was a “cruel, targeted and planned act” which was “motivated by revenge”.

He added: “You attempted, in my view, to either seriously injure or kill this puppy and in effect left it for dead in the street.”

Sentencing: Ellis was jailed for a total of two years and four months and will serve up to half before being released on licence.

Northamptonshire Telegraph
Luton Today

Dogs, Pet Profiteering, puppy farmers / traffickers, kennels, backyard breeders

Rushden, Northamptonshire: Jackson and Wendy Dass

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CONVICTED (2021) | Jackson Dass and wife Wendy Dass (ages unknown) of 32 Harborough Road, Rushden NN10 0LP – sold dogs without a licence

Husband and wife Jackson and Wendy Dass were selling dogs without a licence.
Husband and wife Jackson and Wendy Dass were selling dogs without a licence.


Jackson and Wendy Dass were disqualified from dealing in dogs (both selling and breeding) for three years after being convicted of illegal breeding.

The pair, who were prosecuted by North Northamptonshire Council under licensing laws, appear to specialise in pugs. They used online outlets such as Facebook to sell to the public.

It isn’t known whether they breed and sell their own dogs or whether they are ‘middlemen’ for puppy farms.

Illegal breeder Wendy Dass

Emma Matthews, licensing compliance officer for North Northamptonshire Council, said: “We are determined that the local area will not be used for illegal activities around dog breeding and as a qualified inspector, it is my responsibility to ensure that people who require a licence obtain one, those that have a licence comply with their licence conditions and those who don’t engage are dealt with appropriately.

“This is the second case which I have worked on in recent years that has been brought to the courts, and the second which has resulted in a conviction.

“The new legislation in October 2018 made it very clear that commercial breeding of dogs requires a licence and that animal welfare will be paramount.

“We will continue to work hard to prevent illegal dog sales, whilst also protecting animals in the area.”

Sentencing: fined £369 and £646 respectively plus victim surcharge. Ordered to pay £1,000 each towards costs. Banned from dealing in dogs for three years (expires April 2024).

Northamptonshire Telegraph