CONVICTED (2017) | Coral Elliott, born c. 1995, of Fendoch Road, Grangemouth FK3 9HA, and former partner Andrew Elliott, age and current whereabouts unknown – for the horrific neglect of a dog who was “waiting to die”.
Convicted animal abuser Coral Elliott from Grangemouth
Coral and Andrew Elliott were tried separately for their part in the shocking mistreatment of German shepherd King, who was found barely alive at the couple’s then home in Cultenhove Crescent, Grangemouth.
Andrew Elliott was sentenced in June 2017 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering by failing to provide his dog veterinary treatment and adequate nutrition. He was given a 180-hour community payback order and banned from keeping animals for 20 years.
King suffered appalling mistreatment at the hands of his callous owners Coral and Andrew Elliott
In December 2017 Coral Elliott also pleaded guilty to the cruelty charges but received a ban of just five years. She failed to comply with her community payback order and was given another one in May 2019.
Andrew and Coral Elliott
Speaking about the distressing case Scottish SPCA Inspector Nicola Liddel said: “When I first visited the property, King could be seen lying in an emaciated state with thick yellow mucus streaming from his nostrils.
“His eyes were so sunken back into his head that you could hardly see them and they were surrounded by a thick greenish discharge. His demeanour was so low, it looked like he was waiting to die.
“After taking King to the vet it was found that he weighed only 18.6kgs, when a dog of his size should be around 32kgs.
“He was severely emaciated with all his bones visible throughout his coat and muscle wastage around his skull. His coat was stark and horrendously matted due to filth and faecal matter.
“Poor King had a chronic flea infestation and was struggling to breathe due to the severe discharge blocking his nasal passages. Unfortunately, King was put to sleep following veterinary advice.
“King should not have been left to suffer as he did and was housed in entirely unsuitable accommodation which smelt strongly of urine and faeces.”
CONVICTED (2017) | Mohammed Asab, born June 1966, of 37 Water Lane, Ilford IG3 9HN; Mohammed Arif, born c. 1974, of 59 Fairfield Road, Ilford IG1 2JL; Akhtar Hussain, born c. 1970, of 4A Greenhill Grove, London E12 6BA; Mehtab Ahmed, born c. 1976, of 8 Celebration Way, London E4 9AF; Altaf Hussain, born c. 1963, of 30 Parkstone Road, Coventry CV6 7AL
Ring leader of Pakistani cockfighting gang Mohammed Asab of 37 Water Lane, Ilford
Mohammed Asab, the ring-leader of a Pakistani cockfighting gang based in Ilford, East London, was found guilty of causing an animal fight to take place, keeping and training an animal for use in connection with an animal fight, and keeping premises for use for an animal fight.
Mohammed Arif, Akhtar Hussain, Mehtab Ahmed and Altaf Hussain were all found guilty of being present at an animal fight involving cockerels.
Mohamed Asab pictured during his court appearance.
Disturbing footage seized by police and produced in court showed bloodied birds being trained by the gang. In the video, shown below, Asab is seen training and breeding cockerels to fight and even referred to one of his hens as a producer of ‘champions’.
Cockerels armed with sharpened spurs were pitched against one another in an outbuilding where the group had specifically designed a ring compete with seats around the edge and fake grass in the centre.
When police raided the fighting pit they found fresh cockerel blood splattered across white walls and found several distressed birds flapping around inside.
A blood-stained towel was also found and the cockerels were found to have wounds including one deep cut to the neck which someone had attempted to stitch up.
A total of ten cockerels and two hens were seized by police and animal welfare officers during the raid in January 2017.
Sentencing:
Mohammed Asab: given a 22-week suspended sentence and ordered to pay £10,000 for the long-term care of his former cockerels, now forfeited to the RSPCA, and £2,000 in legal costs. He must also pay a £150 victim surcharge, complete 200 hours community service in 12 months, and forfeit his cockfighting paraphernalia. Lifetime bird-keeping ban.
Mohammed Arif, Akhtar Hussain, Mehtab Ahmed and Altaf Hussain were each fined £1,500, plus a £85 victim surcharge, and granted community orders of 200 hours community service to be completed in 12 months.
A 17-year-old was granted conditional discharge and a fine of £180.
CONVICTED (2017) | Joanne ‘Jojo’ Brown, born 8 May 1984, most recent known address (2018) Winterburn Green, Offerton Estate, Stockport SK2 5PG – abandoned her cat in an empty house for five weeks
Joanne Brown left her cat alone in an abandoned property
Brown was sentenced at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 21 December 2017. She pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the cat, known as Tinkerbell, at an earlier hearing.
Tinkerbell was barely alive when rescued by the RSPCA.
The court heard that Tinkerbell was rescued from a house in Primrose Avenue, in Marple, Stockport, by a neighbour and a member of Brown’s family who became concerned for the cat’s welfare.
Tinkerbell was unresponsive and was covered in scabs and sores. She was taken to the RSPCA’s Greater Manchester Hospital, where staff worked tirelessly to save her life.
She has since recovered in the care of the RSPCA.
RSPCA inspector Heather Morris, who investigated, said: “Tinkerbell was extremely emaciated, dehydrated and anaemic – she was at death’s door. If she’d been in that house for another 24 hours she would have died.
“Tinkerbell had been abandoned for five weeks inside a house which was covered in faeces. There was no food for her so we can only assume that she spent weeks scavenging for food in the property.
“It really was touch-and-go as to whether she would survive, but she slowly started to improve after a month. It was a long process but she has recovered very well and has since been happily rehomed.”
Sentence: 12-month conditional discharge, ordered to pay £250 costs and a £20 victim surcharge.
Source: RSPCA News (article removed)
2019 Update
Joanne Brown has a new kitten – pictured.
Unfortunately, despite proving herself entirely incapable of caring for animals, she was never banned from keeping them.
CONVICTED (2017) | John Declan Ashurst-O’Shaughnessy, born 14 October 1994, of Bolton Road, Atherton, Manchester M46 and Lorraine Ashurst, born c. 1964, of 113 Cameron Street, Leigh WN7 5EA – for the mistreatment of three young horses.
Lorraine Ashurst and her son John Declan Ashurst-O’Shaughnessy were both found guilty of four offences under the Animal Welfare Act which took place between January and March 2017 at Barlows Farm on Close Lane in Hindley, Wigan.
Concerns had been raised about a number of horses which had been left on the land, with some causing problems for motorists by wandering out onto nearby roads. RSPCA inspectors left notes, after visiting in February 2017, before arranging follow-up visits.
The Palomino was lame with laminitis and a foot abscess
The ponies, a Palomino mare, a chestnut gelding and a grey mare, had different injuries such as foot abscesses, laminitis and osteoarthritis, which were not addressed by the pair.
Charity inspectors felt their condition had deteriorated as they had not been placed on a satisfactory worming regime.
Sentencing: John Declan Ashurst O’Shaughnessy – 12 month community order to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. Total of £1,085 costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping any animals for five years, later reduced to two years on appeal. Deprivation order was placed on the three ponies, with a foal also born to the grey mare. Later appealed, unsuccessfully.
A warrant was issued for Lorraine Ashurst’s arrest when she failed to appear for sentencing.
In July 2018 John Declan Ashurst-O’Shaughnessy saw his appeal against conviction and sentence, for three offences of causing unnecessary suffering, dismissed.
His sentence of 150 hours of community service, with £1,000 costs and £85 victim surcharge, was confirmed by the court.
But his disqualification from keeping animals, which had been five years, was reduced to just two (expired 2020).
On 23 January 2020 Wigan Today reported that Lorraine Ashurst had still not received her court punishment – more than two years after her conviction.
Ashurst, who was represented by Clive Rees, was due to be sentenced for three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, and two counts of failing to surrender to police bail. A further warrant was issued for her arrest.
Justices had tried to sentence Ashurst on two occasions following her conviction, in August and September 2018, only for her not to attend court on both dates.
The hearing was told that she had attended court on January 16, 2020, only for the case to be adjourned once again until this week when once again, she was a no-show without notifying the court or her solicitor.
Source: Wigan Today (article removed).
Update | February 2024
Lorraine Ashurst was finally sentenced for her part in the neglect of the three ponies.
She had pleaded not guilty to mistreating the animals on Barlow’s Farm at Hindley but was convicted by magistrates after a trial.
RSPCA prosecutors had brought charges in relation to a Palomino mare, a chestnut gelding and a grey mare, who were each found with injuries after inspectors visited the site off Close Lane.
The court heard that Ashurst failed to take medical measures that would ease the horses’ suffering and also neglected to seek parasitic worm control treatment for them.
Sentencing had been due to take place on several occasions in 2023, but Ashurst failed to appear in court each time. Ultimately an arrest warrant was issued and she was brought back before the courts on 12 February 2024.
She had also been charged with bail breaches but these were dropped because it was decided that they wouldn’t serve the interests of justice.
Sentencing | 10 days of rehabilitation activities; told to pay a fine, court costs and a victim services surcharge totalling £840. She is barred from keeping animals for two years (expires February 2026).
CONVICTED (2017) | Andrew Ripley, born 22/03/1961, of Gallows Hill Drive, Ripon HG4 1UP – caught on camera terrorising his pet collie
Border collie Bex was filmed in a state of distress as she is terrorised by her sadistic owner Andrew Ripley from Ripon
Upsetting footage showed Andrew Ripley in his garden with his hands around Bex’s neck, face and muzzle. He is shaking her and twisting her skin whilst talking to her in a low voice. All the time she is crying and trying to lick him.
RSPCA inspector Carol Neale said: “This poor dog was absolutely terrorised by Ripley.
“It’s clear to anyone that she is extremely frightened during the incident captured in the footage on 29 May [2017].
“She even tries to lick Ripley’s face in what seems to be an appeal for him to stop hurting her. It’s very upsetting to watch.”
Staff at RSPCA York & District Branch have worked hard with Bex over the months since, bringing in a specialist dog behaviourist to help her.
“I’ve never seen a more emotionally scarred dog, she was so traumatised,” said inspector Neale.
“She was signed over to us at the previous hearing in November and I did the homecheck on her potential new owners the following day myself.
“I’m so ecstatic to say that she’s been there for almost a month now and has settled in really well with her new family, and her feline housemates.
“She’s got a new name – Jess – and has been given the best Christmas present ever, a wonderful new start.”
Sentencing: 12-month community order of 150 hours of unpaid work and 30 days of rehabilitation; costs and charges totalling £535. Lifetime ban on keeping animals except bovines.
#MostEvil | Aaron Jay Barker, born 01/07/1991, of Flat 2, Cherry House, 23 Redhill Road, Arnold, Nottingham NG5 8GT – beat to death two kittens he’d just adopted from Cats Protection League.
Kitten killer Aaron Jay Barker of Basford, Nottingham. Photo on right shows Barker with one of the kittens he later killed.
Barker pinned four-month-old kittens Panther and Baby to the floor and beat them to death.
A post-mortem showed the kittens suffered multiple injuries including fractured skull, broken ribs, brain haemorrhages, ruptured liver and blood clots. Vets believed these were caused by blunt force trauma and contacted the RSPCA.
Barker claim a burglar attacked the kittens. He said he tried to give them a bath to wash away blood and faeces, but as he did so Panther jumped out of his arms, hit the bottom of the bath and died. Panther’s injuries were not consistent with this, however, and the evidence pointed to the injuries being inflicted when Barker was at home alone.
Sentence: 20 weeks in prison. Life ban on keeping pets.
CONVICTED (2017) | Carl Pugh, born 23/11/1982, of Elizabeth Avenue, Bilston WV14 8DZ – filmed savagely beating his dog next to a canal
American bulldog Jeff was brutally beaten by his cruel owner Carl Pugh from Bilston, Wolverhampton
Carl Pugh was caught on CCTV hitting his American bulldog called Jeff five times, before picking him up and holding him over the canal.
Pugh was convicted in his absence of causing unnecessary suffering to the dog after failing to turn up for his trial.
As they sentenced Pugh, magistrates described his actions as a ‘despicable way to treat a dog’.
RSPCA inspector Vicki Taylor said: “Pugh claimed that Jeff dragged him into the canal and that he got his foot wet, so he hit him – but he said that the CCTV made it look worse than it was, and he said that he loved the dog and would never harm him.
“But the CCTV showed a different story. On the footage, Pugh can clearly be seen hitting Jeff five times and then picking him up and holding him over the canal.
“The magistrates said in court that it was a ‘despicable way to treat a dog’ and they are right. There is no excuse to treat any animal like this.
“We’d like to thank everyone who contacted us with information after seeing the shocking video online.”
She added: “Jeff is a lovely dog and he hasn’t got an aggressive bone in his body. It is so sad that he went through this.”
Sentencing: 12-week curfew; costs and charges totalling £185. Disqualified from keeping animals for two years (expired December 2019).
CONVICTED (2017) | Jake Griffiths, born 07/08/1992, of Ringwood Crescent, Westbury-on-Trym , Bristol BS10 5RL – swung his dog around by the lead and kept kicking him in the street until passers-by intervened
Jake Griffiths from Bristol was given a lifetime ban from keeping animals after beating his dog so badly passers-by intervened
Griffiths assaulted his dog in such a shocking way that people walking past the attack on Gloucester Road in July 2017 stepped in and tried to stop him.
They held him until police arrived, and Griffith was arrested.
It appeared Griffiths was trying to train his brindle-coloured Staffordshire bull terrier, who was just nine months old at the time. He was picking up the dog, Buddy, and throwing him to the ground.
“Witnesses saw Griffiths lift the dog up by his lead which was tied around his neck, so it was almost like a noose,” said RSPCA Inspector Simon Coombs.
“Then they saw him kick the dog a couple of times, before dragging him up the road.
“They intervened and called the police, who then arrested Griffiths and contacted ourselves,” he added.
Staffy Buddy recovered from his ordeal and was made available for rehoming by the RSPCA
At Bristol Magistrates Court, Griffiths admitted two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
He was given a lifetime ban on keeping all animals for causing unnecessary suffering to Buddy, as well as using frightening, harmful and potentially painful training methods.
In his defence, Griffiths told magistrates that he has an alcohol problem that made him short-tempered and he had taken it out on Buddy, despite saying he loved the dog.
“That is still no excuse for treating an animal so badly and I’m really pleased with the sentence,” said Insp Coombs.
“Griffiths signed Buddy over to us as soon as we became involved and I’m pleased to say that he was rehomed soon after,” he added.
Magistrates commended the two witnesses who saw the incident and intervened.
Griffiths was told by the court that he cannot appeal his lifetime animal ban for ten years.
Sentence: one-year community order, which includes 20 days of rehabilitation activity and a six-month alcohol treatment requirement; £300 in costs and £85 victim surcharge; banned from keeping animals for life.
CONVICTED (2017) | Leah Prince, born 6 February 1975, of Bridge Close, Church Gresley, Swadlincote, Derbyshire DE11 9HT – starved a dog to half her body weight
Prince pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to her black Labrador called Roxy.
The court heard that Roxy almost died after losing 10 kilogrammes of weight in just four months. She had been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) earlier in 2017, and her rapid weight loss was said to be a result of the illness.
Labrador Roxy lost nearly half of her body weight in four months due to her owner Leah Prince’s neglect
RSPCA Inspector Nicola Johnson said: “Roxy was unable to digest food properly because of the IBS, which would have left her in a lot of pain most days.
“She dropped weight very quickly and became weaker and weaker. All of her rib bones could be seen. It was obvious she was not a well dog.”
Roxy was skin and bone by the time she was rescued by the RSPCA from her neglectful owner Leah Prince from Swadlincote, Derbyshire. Happily she recovered and has been rehomed.
Roxy was taken to a vet by Prince, where she was diagnosed with IBS, but was not taken back to the vets again to receive an offer of surgery to help treat the condition.
Inspector Johnson said: “Instead, Prince went on the internet and searched for ways to treat it herself.
“She believed that eventually she would find the right food for Roxy, but in the meantime Roxy was drastically losing weight.
“She was eating food which would come straight out again – she just wasn’t able to digest it properly. This went on for four months, during which time Roxy had been left to suffer.
“If veterinary advice had been taken at the outset, she would not have lost so much weight and become so weak.”
The RSPCA was contacted by a member of the public after concerns were raised about the dog’s welfare and health.
Inspector Johnson added: “I took Roxy to a vet and we weighed her in at 13kg, which is far below the 25kg a female Labrador should weigh.
“Her road to recovery was a long one and she was so poorly that we nearly lost her a couple of times. It really was touch and go.
“I’d like to give a huge thanks to the staff at the RSPCA’s Burton branch, and staff at Springwood Vets and Swadlincote’s vets for their part in saving Roxy’s life. Without them she might not be here today.
“The good news is that Roxy has been happily re-homed with a lovely family, and she is a very happy dog today.
Sentencing: two-year conditional discharge; £200 costs. Lifetime ban on keeping animals.
CONVICTED (2017) | Jordan Malpas, born around 1990, most recent known address (March 2018) St Pauls Street, Stockton-on-Tees TS19 0AQ – left an elderly chihuahua in his filthy home with syringes on the floor
An arrest warrant was issued for persistent criminal and junkie Jordan Malpas who failed to properly care for his 10-year-old dog
Heroin junkie and career criminal Jordan Malpas failed to properly care for 10-year-old chihuahua Frodo whom he left in his squalid flat which was strewn with needles. Malpas hadn’t even provided clean water for the pet.
Chihuahua Frodo was suffering from a litany of health problems but recovered and was rehomed
Images supplied by the RSPCA show tablets and cigarette butts discarded on a scruffy carpet next to the needles.
RSPCA officer Clare Wilson was at Teesside Magistrates’ Court to see justice served for Frodo following his ordeal.
She said when he was found, he had discharge in his eye and his teeth were in a shocking state.
However, his story had a happy ending.
“He’s doing great now and has been rehomed with another Chihuahua,” she said.
“He really is a different dog now he’s being looked after properly.”
An arrest warrant was issued by the court for Malpas after he did not attend the hearing.
Conditions inside Jordan Malpas’s flat where the elderly chihuahua was found
District Judge Kristina Harrison warned that Malpas faced a ban from owning animals after convicting him of three offences in his absence. Unfortunately, we can find no details of the sentencing.
The court heard Malpas made “full admissions” in interview that he had failed to properly care for the dog.
And he was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to ensure Frodo’s welfare.
His latest crimes add to his lengthy criminal record, which the court heard consisted of 18 convictions.
