Monthly Archives: August 2014

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

Fairfield, Liverpool: Sean Cottrell

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CONVICTED (2014) | Sean Philip Cottrell, born 19/06/1992, as at March 2020 of Edge Grove, Liverpool L7 0HW but originally from the Wirral, Merseyside – battered his Staffy puppy so badly the dog was left severely brain-damaged and had to be put down

Dog killer Sean Cottrell from Liverpool, Merseyside
Sean Philip Cottrell’s attack on a four-month-old puppy left the dog “in a stupor” and so seriously injured he had to be euthanised

Sean Cottrell, who went on to be jailed for 11 years after attacking his baby son, admitted inflicting blunt force trauma to the dog, named Dexter, resulting in severe brain damage. He also admitted failing to provide proper and necessary veterinary care and attention following the beating.

Staffordshire bull terrier Dexter suffered brain damage and had to be put down after Sean Cottrell beat him so hard vets said he looked like he had been in a car crash.

Chris Murphy, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told how Dexter was left to suffer from his injuries for two days before he was found by RSPCA inspectors on a balcony outside Cottrell’s flat pacing in tight circles.

The animal charity was called by a concerned witness who was visiting Cottrell’s neighbour two days earlier and heard blows and animal cries from the flat.

Dog killer Sean Cottrell from Liverpool, Merseyside
Dog killer Sean Cottrell pictured outside court

Mr Murphy said: “Officers were concerned for the animal’s welfare as both its eyes were blood red. They felt it had suffered so the dog was seized.”

He was taken away for examination by vets who found he has suffered “multiple trauma to the head”. He was unable to feed independently and was observed pacing in circles and bumping into objects in his path.

They decided Dexter’s injuries were so severe he needed to be put down

A report read to the court from vet Nick Whieldon said that it was the “single worst case” he had encountered in four years of dealing in animal cruelty cases, stating that not only was Dexter subject to the beating but was then left in that state for two days unable to perform bodily functions.

RSPCA inspector Anthony Joynes told the ECHO afterwards: “This was a sickening, stomach-churning case involving a young Staffordshire puppy who yet again has paid the ultimate price at the hands of its cruel and violent owner.

“I am pleased Mr Cottrell has also paid the ultimate price and lost his liberty.

“This case deeply affected not only myself and my colleagues but also the police officer and veterinary surgeon involved.

“I’m happy the courts have banned Mr Cottrell from keeping any animals for the rest of his life and hope that the sentence sends a clear message that such brutal and disgusting behaviour will not be accepted in today’s society.”

Sentence: 14 weeks in jail, life ban on owning an animal but can appeal after 10 years (August 2024)

Liverpool Echo

Animal Torture, Birds, farms / smallholdings, Food Production, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Cudworth, South Yorkshire: Jack Handley

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CONVICTED (2014) | Jack Handley, born c. 1994, of Charles Street, Cudworth, Barnsley S72 8AW – launched a barbaric attack on hand-reared chickens on an allotment

Jack Handley

Former soldier Handley was one of two men responsible for killing, burning, stabbing, punching and tossing chickens in the air.

One of the birds had its head pulled off, another was sent 15ft into the air after being stabbed with the spikes of a garden rake and a third was thrown on a fire

Rhys Tomlinson, who could have stopped the carnage but did not because he did not want to be a ‘grass’, was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work.

Handley admitted causing unnecessary suffering to seven chickens.

Vicious thug Jack Handley from Cudworth, South Yorkshire

In June 2015 Handley was jailed for 14 months after being convicted of racially abusing a vulnerable woman and then punching and kicking her carer in an appalling street attack.

Handley made racist remarks towards the woman before launching a vicious attack on the support worker. He punched the carer, knocking him to the ground, before two other men and himself started kicking the man as he lay on the ground.

His latest jail term started in November 2014 as he was already in prison for burgling an OAP’s home.

Sentence: 18 weeks in prison, £85 in costs, £60 victim surcharge, £5 in compensation.

We Are Barnsley

Fish, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers

Ross-on-Wye, Herefordshire: Paul Wooding

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CONVICTED (2014) | Paul A Wooding, born 7 April 1981, of Brampton Avenue, Ross-on-Wye HR9 7EW – drank four live fish in a cocktail of alcohol.

Wooding admitted two offences, linked to the online Neknominate craze, in an incident in a pub which happened in February 2014.

In the video, Wooding announces “this is my Neknominate” before downing a pint glass of wine, gin, vodka, rum and lemonade – together with the fish.

Rafe Turner, prosecuting, said it was a professional vet’s opinion “the fish have been caused pain, based on the video evidence”.

The footage came to the RSPCA’S attention after it was seen on Wooding’s Facebook page.

In it, after downing the cocktail, he nominates four other people to join the drinking game.

After being interviewed about the video, Wooding later posted on Facebook: “Some people’s lives must be that sad and boring, to get any excitement they have to report me to the RSPCA for my Neknominate.”

Wooding told investigators he had been nominated to drink by friends and “something was going around to get some fish, to make it different”.

Mr Turner said he told the RSPCA the fish were “little minnows” and he had got them out of his friend’s fish tank an hour before carrying out the act.

Wooding said he had drunk about eight pints and six double gins, before downing the cocktail at the Golf Inn, in Ross.

Chris Morgan, in mitigation, questioned why the prosecution had ever made it to court when cautions had been issued for “other similar matters”.

He added: “Yes, those fish may have experienced pain and then died, but they are small fish, nothing more.”

He said the offences should be looked at objectively, and that comparing the fishes’ deaths, for example, to four horses would be “contrary to common sense”.

Mr Morgan added his client was “stupid, irresponsible and ashamed” but had already suffered having been exposed to “public ridicule” and the press spotlight.

Wooding, he said, had no idea his drinking the fish was against the law.

“If it can ever be said of a crime, that a defendant has learned the error of his ways, it can be said here,” said Mr Morgan.

After the hearing, RSPCA inspector Mark Lewis said: “There was a deliberate decision to take these fish and swallow them as part of this irresponsible game.

“The fish suffered unnecessarily and it is simply not acceptable to treat an animal in this way purely for amusement.”

Sentencing | 18-month conditional discharge; £515 in costs and charges.

Worcester News

Dogs, Worst of the Worst

Middlefield, Aberdeen: Shona McBain

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CONVICTED (2014) | Shona McBain (aka Shona Wilks), born 20/12/1974, of Logie Place, Aberdeen AB16 7UP – starved one dog to death and allowed two others to become emaciated.

Dog killer: Shona McBain aka Shona Wilks from Aberdeen, Scotland
Monster: Shona McBain aka Shona Wilks, from Aberdeen

McBain admitted the horrific neglect of Staffies Lexie and Roxy and lurcher Ruby.

Dogs starved by Shona McBain from Aberdeen

Roxy had to be put down because she had no fat or muscle on her “skeletal” body.

Scottish SPCA inspector Fiona McKenzie said:”Roxy was like a skeleton. The temples of her head were extremely sunken and she had no fat or muscle at all.

“She showed no interest in life and appeared very weak. When we removed her from McBain’s property she was unable to walk and had to be carried the short distance to our van.

“Roxy was in a semi-collapsed state when we got her to the vets and was clearly emaciated. Ruby was also very thin.

Shona McBain from Aberdeen left three dogs to starve. Staffy Lexie recovered from her ordeal in the care of the SSPCA.
Staffy Lexie recovered from her ordeal in the care of the SSPCA.

“Tragically, Roxy’s condition deteriorated overnight and there was no option for the vet but to put her to sleep to end her suffering.

“Lexie and Ruby made full recoveries in our care and we have since found them loving new homes.”

McBain was no stranger to the courts. In September 2013 she was given a community order after threatening her husband, Kenneth Wilks, with a knife.

Despite her latest conviction she still avoided prison.

Dog killer Shona McBain from Aberdeen pictured outside court
Dog killer Shona McBain, who actually uses her married name Wilks in day-to-day life, pictured outside court

McBain, who also owns several cats, was given a pathetic three-year ban which only extended to dogs. At the time of adding this case to the database, that ban had already expired and McBain would appear to now own a lurcher-type dog.

We hope the authorities are watching her like a hawk.

Sentencing: 135-hour community service order. Three-year ban on owning dogs (expired August 2017).

Press and Journal

Animal Abandonment, Dogs

West Gorton, Manchester: Paul Francis

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CONVICTED (2014) | Paul Michael Francis, born 29/05/1984, of Regent Court, Wenlock Way, West Gorton, Manchester M12 5BS – kept a starving dog in squalor.

Dog abuser Paul Michael Francis

Francis had been to court and successfully applied for a licence for the pitbull, called Max, as he was classed as a dangerous dog.

However, there were several conditions attached including that he must tell the police if he changed address.

In July 2013, police believed Francis moved address without notifying them so visited his home.

There they found the dog living in squalid conditions, covered in his own excrement and urine and without food.

The animal weighed under half the amount he should for a dog of his age and size.

When officers eventually traced Francis he said he had been threatened by a group of men so had to stay clear from his flat, claiming he only returned “intermittently.”

He said he had only been away for a matter of two or three weeks, though prosecutors estimated it may have been for longer.

Francis pleaded guilty to failing to prevent unnecessary suffering to an animal.

He was banned from owning a dog for five years by a judge who told him ‘by your own admission you had been back round to the house and could have seen what condition it was in’.

Peter Casson, defending, said: “He was co-operative with the police and handed himself in when he returned and found that the dog had been taken away.

“He had owned it for two years previously, it was insured and it was healthy.

“He told the police why he had to move and unfortunately he couldn’t take the dog with him.

“Rather foolishly and stupidly he allowed a situation to develop where vets and the police have had to become involved.”

District Judge Khalid Qureshi said: “I accept this was not deliberate cruelty.

“But it was very neglectful of you, over a prolonged period of time.

“It has taken a lot of care and hard work from people a lot more responsible than you for this dog to make a full recovery.”

Max, who was seized and was handed over to vets, made a full recovery after several months of care and rehab.

Sentencing: ordered to pay a total of £145. Banned from keeping dogs for five years (expired August 2019).

Manchester Evening News

Dogs, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire: Alfie Loft

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CONVICTED (2014) | Alfie Sydney Loft, born 12/11/1994, formerly from Hatfield but as of 2020 living at Guinness House, Little Hardings, Welwyn Garden City AL7 2EN – filmed swinging a chihuahua by her lead

Dog abuser Alfie Loft

Loft admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dog after swinging her around in the air.

The dog belonged to a woman he had just met while drinking with friends at a pub in Stevenage. She asked him to take the dog for a walk while he and three friends went to a nearby shop to buy more alcohol.

Loft’s lawyer, Natasha Patel, said her client was trying to encourage the dog to walk by pulling on her lead when she lifted into the air for the first time.

“The people he was with began laughing at the incident and that has almost egged him on,” she said. “He knows that was wrong. He doesn’t remember much of what happened.”

She added: “He’s disgusted at himself, they were his own words to me. He feels humiliated that this incident has occurred. He has also said he would like to write a letter to apologise to the owner of the dog to show that he is truly sorry.

“He does love dogs himself, although he doesn’t own any himself.”

Although the dog was not injured, her owner said she was distressed and was acting out of character. She was told about what happened by a witness.

The court heard that Loft, who was kept in custody over the weekend, was signed off work with depression.

Sentencing: 12-week curfew. Ordered to pay £250 in compensation and £145 in court costs. Banned from owning any animal for two years (expired August 2016).

Guardian