CONVICTED (2021) | Christopher Paul White, born 30 April 1975, of Fallow Hill, Leamington but with links to Rugby and Coventry – kicked and hit his pet dog
Career criminal Christopher White, who in February 2013 was given nine years in jail for dealing in class A drugs, was found guilty in his absence of causing unnecessary suffering to a Staffordshire bull terrier called Ozzy.
The attack happened in September 2020.
The dog’s condition is not known.
The source article doesn’t say whether he received a ban on keeping animals.
Sentencing: community order including 150 hours of unpaid work and a rehabilitation activity requirement; £100 court costs.
CONVICTED (2021) | Suzanne ‘Suzy’ Young, born c. 1968, previously of Windsor Garth, York, but said to now be living in Birmingham – kicked a stranger’s dog in the face, racially abused and assaulted her owner in an unprovoked attack.
Suzanne Young , who has a previous 2010 conviction for being drunk and disorderly, was caught on camera spitting at and throwing punches at Charles Casmir and kicking his dog Delta – a cream Akita – in the face.
There was public disgust over the footage and Young was arrested and charged with two counts of racially aggravated assault, one count of use of threatening language or behaviour and one count of causing the unnecessary suffering of an animal.
She had originally pleaded not guilty to some of the charges and was scheduled to face trial, but changed her pleas to guilty at the last minute.
Victim Delta
The court heard that Mr Casmir was walking Delta on Hob Moor, York, at 8.10pm when he was approached by Young, who started shouting at him because his dog was not on a lead and was ‘running with cows’.
He said Young became ‘aggressive’ and threatened to shoot him and his dog. He then tried to walk away but she started using racist insults such as ‘p*i’ and ‘chng ch*ng’.
Young then started spitting at Mr Casmir.
Mr Casmir said his dog did get ‘too close to her’ and was wagging her tail when Young kicked her in the face.
‘This was horrible,’ he said.
He said Young ‘continued using racial slurs’ and started putting her fists up in a ‘boxing guard position’ and said ‘hit me, hit me’.
Young then picked up a wine bottle from her bag and started threatening Mr Casmir.
He said: ‘I believe she was going to use it as a weapon.’
Mr Casmir then moved away and warned another dog owner about her, which is when she came and punched him in the face numerous times.
Mr Casmir said that Young then approached some youths and he called police who came and arrested her.
Young’s lawyer told the court her client had unknowingly smoked the synthetic drug spice on the day, which caused her shocking outbursts.
She also said her client was ‘ashamed at her behaviour’ and had stopped drinking and was receiving support.
Sentencing: 42 weeks imprisonment suspended for two years; £500 compensation to Mr Casmir. Disqualified from having custody of a dog for five years (expires June 2026).
CONVICTED (2021) | zoophiles Mark Findlater, born c. 1987, of Sidlaw Range, Kirriemuir DD8 5DW, Joshua Lee-Paterson, born c. 2000, of Millden Steading West, House West, Balmedie, Aberdeen AB23 8YY, and Jordan Turnbull, born c. 1992, of Meigle Street, Galashiels, TD1 1LN.
Horse rapists Jordan Turnbull (left) and Joshua Lee-Paterson
Jordan Turnbull and Joshua Lee-Paterson each admitted having an “unnatural connection” with separate horses at Cothal Farm in Fintray.
Serial offender Mark Findlater pictured during his previous prosecution case. He was said to have coerced the other two into raping the ponies
A third male, Mark Findlater, admitted a charge of distributing “obscene material” of his co-accused “engaging in sexual activities with horses”.
The incident happened in a small wooden stable in a field.
At the time, the Shetland ponies – named Jack and Ruby – were owned by Findlater.
The court heard Findlater was in a relationship with Turnbull and Lee-Paterson at different times.
Jordan Turnbull
Both men blamed him, claiming he controlled and manipulated them into attacking the horses.
Lee-Paterson said he was trying to protect the animals.
Prosecutor Colin Neilson told the court: “He said that Findlater had threatened to harm the horses if he didn’t carry out the acts.”
All of the depraved incidents, during which an air compression device was used, were captured on a mobile phone.
Findlater, who has a past conviction for possession of animal pornography, insisted he had not witnessed the sickening attacks and received the images on social media.
Between January 17 and February 11, 2020, Findlater sent a number of packages to people containing letters “describing the acts of bestiality undertaken by the co-accused” along with images depicting the acts.
The images were sent to various people including the manager of a hotel, residents of several farms and cottages, and a newspaper reporter.
Joshua Lee-Paterson
Solicitor Stuart Murray, representing Lee-Paterson, said the offence had taken place when his client was “on the cusp of turning 18”.
He added a court-ordered social work report contained discussion over concerns of “controlling and coercive behaviour” from Findlater.
Regarding the offence, Mr Murray went on: “He’s struggling to come to terms with the fact he has taken part in that type of behaviour.
“The report states Mr Paterson was not driven or motivated by any sexual attraction to animals.”
The solicitor said his client suffered from “worrying mental health issues and had been “coerced” into committing the offence.
Defence agent James Caird, representing Findlater, said: “He was not involved in the abuse of the animals or in any way present when the photos were taken.
“He received these images as a member of a social media group.”
Mr Caird said his client suffered from mental health problems, adding: “His position is he was a whistle-blower in this matter.”
The solicitor accepted Findlater had a previous conviction for possession of “similar material”.
Lawyer Mathew Patrick, appearing for Turnbull, said his client had also been pressured into committing the offence.
He said: “Were it not for that intimidation, it’s certain, Mr Turnbull’s position is, this offence would not have taken place.”
Mr Patrick said his client is “otherwise a respectable member of society” and runs his own firm.
He explained Turnbull suffered from psychological difficulties, added: “It does seem to me he’s easily open to suggestion and easily led and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if that played some part in this.”
Sentencing: Findlater – jailed for 13 months and two weeks. Lee-Paterson – 18 months supervision and 225 hours of unpaid work. He was also made subject to the notification requirements of the Sexual Offences Act for 18 months. Turnbull – jailed for seven months and made subject to the notification requirements for 10 years. None of them were banned from keeping or having access to animals.
Joshua Lee-Paterson gave his address in court as Bell Place, Bagshot, Surrey GU19 5NE.
Update October 2022
Operation Frankish 2 – Cage The Monsters (OF) revealed on their Facebook page that Jordan Turnbull was working as a coach driver with Edinburgh Coach Lines, and dealing with members of the public, including children, on a daily basis.
Suspecting that Edinburgh Coach Lines was unaware of their employee’s sick past, OF reached out but the company’s response was muted to say the least.
So OF went to the papers and on 18 October 2022 The Sun ran a story on the scandal, with their reporter confronting Turnbull at his workplace.
Like his (hopefully now former) employer, Turnbull had little to say.
Excellent work as ever by OF as another animal abuser learns the hard way that their vile behaviour will neither be forgiven, nor forgotten.
CONVICTED (2021) | Victoria Taylor, aka Victoria Woodrow, born c. 1973, of 2 Ingledew Close, Oakwood, Derby DE21 2WA – locked her elderly Staffy outside of her home, leaving the dog collapsed and terrified as fireworks went off around her.
An RSPCA inspector found underweight 18-year-old Staffy Missy cowering under a bush in the pouring rain as fireworks went off around her. She was very cold, covered in mange and had a painful untreated eye infection. She was also emaciated.
Now Missy’s owner, Victoria Taylor, has been banned from keeping animals for five years.
The court heard how the RSPCA were called to Taylor’s address on Saturday, November 1, 2020 after a member of the public reported seeing a collapsed animal in the garden.
Inspector Rachel Leafe was sent to the property that evening but there was no one inside the house, so she went to a neighbour’s garden and could see a very underweight elderly dog curled up under a bush in the dirt.
Inspector Leafe said: “I used a ladder to look over the fence into the garden.
“Here, directly beneath me, lay curled up under a bush on the dirt an elderly looking, very underweight medium-sized dog.
“There were odd sprigs of fur, enough for me to tell she should have been tan or red in colour. The whole body was covered in what looked to be mange.
“I could see there was no man-made shelter at all available for her. The back door to the property was shut so she could not get inside. I could not see any food or water or any empty bowls.
“I whistled to her and she eventually, very reluctantly, stiffly and unsteadily got up and walked a few yards before lying back down on the wet ground.”
Rachel said it was a cold night, pouring down with rain, and fireworks were going off so she called Derbyshire police to attend and Missy was rushed to a vet for emergency treatment.
An expert independent vet said in a report: “She was severely emaciated with a body score of 1.5 on a scale of 0 to 5, with 0 being the thinnest body condition.
“She had a severe dry eye.
“The condition is caused by the body reacting to its own tears as part of an immune reaction.
“This condition is extremely painful and both corneas were inflamed and cloudy.
“She had long pointy nails showing that she had little or no exercise for some time.”
Missy underwent weeks of treatment during RSPCA care but by December 3 new lumps and tumours were appearing all over her body and it was found she had an aggressive form of lymphoma cancer, and had just a few weeks to live.
A vet decided the kindest thing to do was to put Missy to sleep, to end her suffering, while she was still under general anaesthetic.
Taylor pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Sentencing | 12-month community order, with 15 rehabilitation sessions, a total of £542 in costs, fines and charges. Five-year ban on keeping animals (expires June 2026).
CONVICTED (2021) | Chloe Simpson, born c. 1997, of St Hilda’s Terrace, Loftus, Saltburn-by-the-Sea TS13 4SE – carried out sexual acts on two dogs; amassed a sickening catalogue of child and animal abuse
A total of 308 images of two dogs being sexually abused were stored on depraved Chloe Simpson’s digital equipment.
Simpson, who is transitioning to a man, was also caught with child abuse images, extreme pornography, involving animals, and a prohibited image of a child, when police raided her home.
The court heard how images and videos of sex acts on a “small white dog” were recovered as well as 33 extreme pornographic images involving horses and dogs.
A second laptop also contained four category A images, involving children between seven and 10-years-old, and another iPhone with one prohibited category A image.
A vet said that the white dog had suffered no lasting injury but had been exposed to the risk of infection and peritonitis.
Simpson pleaded guilty to a catalogue of offences, including possession of child abuse images and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Chris Morrison, defending, said that she was a vulnerable person who was the carer for her grandmother, and her activities had centred around using her iPhones and laptops to visit the internet.
The court heard how Simpson was the primary carer for her grandmother but had moved out of her home for fear of ”Neanderthal’ repercussions.
Mr Morrison said his client’s mother had ‘washed her hands of her’ while she maintained that she had no sexual interest in children but offered up no excuse for her behaviour.
Judge Jonathan Carroll refuted her claim that she had no sexual interest in the material she was downloading and watching but accepted that she had had a difficult childhood and struggled with her sexual identity throughout her life.
Sentencing: ten-month prison sentence, suspended for two years. Ten-year sexual harm order. Ten-year ban on owning animals (expires June 2031).
Simpson was handed another suspended sentence after failing to comply with the sex offender notification requirements and breaching a sexual harm prevention order.
On Friday September 22, 2023, Simpson appeared back in court for offences which took place in July 2022 while she was subjected to the suspended sentence order.
Teesside Crown Court heard how Simpson was discovered with seven aliases and had turned on software which meant her internet browsing history was deleted after every use over a period of more than six months.
Simpson fully admitted the latest charges against her.
Recorder Andrew Dallas told Simpson: “You come here in extreme peril today. The probation service, recognising this, have been carefully considering what [provisions] should be made were I to send you to custody today.
“You have come within the nearest whisker of being sent to custody.”
The court heard that, other than this, Simpson, who was represented by Paul Abrahams, has complied with all of the rehabilitation activity requirement days and there have been no other reported breaches in the 14 months since the offence took place.
Recorder Dallas said: “There does prevail a realistic prospect of rehabilitation in your case.”
He handed Simpson, still of St Hilda’s Terrace, Loftus, a 12 month sentence suspended for two years. Simpson must carry out an additional 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and pay a £50 fine.
CONVICTED (2021) | Lee O’Brien, born c. 1997, of Cecil Mount, Armley in Leeds – leader of a gang of violent dog-nappers
In April 2021 Lee O’Brien and two accomplices forced their way into a house in Kirton Lane, Thorne and attacked a man in an attempt to steal his three dogs.
The whole shocking incident was caught on the householder’s doorbell camera.
During the scuffle – in which one of the masked men can be seen brandishing a metal bar – one man does manage to get into the house, and is seen looking around, trying to find the barking dogs.
But just a few seconds later, a neighbour came to the man’s aid as he wrestled the other two men away from his front door – and the three men can then be seen scarpering off down the road.
O’Brien was identified by West Yorkshire Police when they reviewed the CCTV footage. He was arrested and later charged with Section 47 Assault and attempted burglary. His accomplices, named on social media as Kelsi Waller and Tyler Myers, are still being hunted by police.
CONVICTED (2021) | Filip Pawel Kuczkowski, born 12 February 1979, of Laxey Road, Rotton Park, Birmingham B16 0JG but with strong links to Kidderminster – kept 20 malnourished chinchillas crammed into tiny cages inside his home.
RSPCA inspector Jon Ratcliffe was called to an address in Laxey Road on October 20, 2020, after receiving reports that a number of chinchillas had been left inside unattended for some time.
After receiving no reply, he looked through the letterbox and spotted a dead animal at the bottom on a cage. He then called the police to help him gain entry into the property.
To their horror, they discovered 19 chinchillas in cages with empty water bottles. One animal was trapped inside a cage and despite the efforts of a vet had to be put down.
The rest were thin, injured after fighting with each other and underfed.
Inspector Ratcliffe said: “The chinchillas inside the cages clambered frantically to get to the water bottles to be able to drink. It was clear these animals had been deprived of water for some considerable time.
“My attention was drawn to one chinchilla who appeared to be trapped and wedged in between the wire of the cage and an internal ramp.
“I gently freed the animal but he was in very poor bodily condition and collapsed; the animal was suffering and needed immediate veterinary assistance so I drove directly to an emergency vets who sadly had to put the chinchilla to sleep because of the severity of his condition.
“The remaining chinchillas were removed from the cages.
“There were seven live chinchillas in the right hand cage nearest the front door, in addition to the deceased chinchilla I had originally seen from the letterbox and the chinchilla who I had rushed to the vet.
“A second cage contained a further ten chinchillas.
“I was again struck by how thin many of them were, how many of them had very poor quality coats and some appeared to have injuries or bites consistent with fighting with other animals.”
The surviving chinchillas were taken to RSPCA Newbrook Farm Animal Hospital where they received care and treatment before being made available for rehoming.
Polish national Filip Pawel Kuczkowski, who has a previous conviction for drink driving while living in Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to six animal welfare offences.
Sentencing | 100 hours of unpaid work; 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement days; £495 in costs and charges. Banned from keeping animals for five years (expires June 2026).
CONVICTED (2021) | Carl Knowles, born c. 1989, of 111 Halbutt Street, Dagenham RM9 5AP – banned from keeping animals indefinitely after a pony was found starved and unable to move
Knowles pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a pony by failing to ensure he received appropriate veterinary care for his poor condition.
RSPCA inspector Jessica Dayes and animal rescue officer Rebecca Yarrow joined police in Harlow on December 14, 2020, where they found 18-month-old gelding, Max, collapsed.
Insp Dayes said the pony was not making any attempt to stand because he was so weak. He was laid down with his front legs tucked under his body.
According to the RSPCA, Max’s hips and spine were visible and there was a pile of faeces behind him showing he had been in the same position for some time.
Bread had been placed before him, but it was wet and not eaten. The only water was muddy and in a purple bucket.
Max was seized by police and given pain relief by a vet. He had open pressure sores on both elbows and the space between his front legs. Skin lesions on the limbs and both points of the elbow had deep, ulcerated wounds.
When Max was examined at an animal hospital, the vet decided to put him to sleep on humane grounds to prevent him suffering further.
Insp Dayes said: “The vet report stated it was unacceptable for any equine to be left collapsed, without the ability to move freely for days without seeking further professional advice.
“The emaciation should also have been investigated and treated. Appropriate treatment should have been sought for the pain and discomfort caused by the wounds.
“All of Max’s conditions should have led any reasonable owner to seek immediate veterinary care.”
In mitigation, Knowles argued a vet was called but he could not afford the cost of treatment.
Sentencing: 18-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay £628 in costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping animals and cannot appeal for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2021) | Roger O’Donoghue, born 18 August 1998, of Gomm Place, High Wycombe -failed to feed his dog properly or seek treatment for her painful skin condition
Irish traveller Roger O’Donoghue pleaded guilty to one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The court heard that O’Donoghue caused suffering to a female lurcher type dog by failing to properly feed her.
He also failed to ensure the proper treatment of a “painful” skin condition that she was suffering from.
Sentencing: 18-month community order with 100 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay £400. Two-year ban on keeping dogs (expires June 2023). Deprivation order on the unnamed mistreated dog and her puppy.
CONVICTED (2021) | Helen Jane Medland, born 20 January 1982, of Queen Elizabeth Road, Launceston PL15 8EZ but originally from Bude in Cornwall – failed to give adequate food and water to her three horses or provide them with veterinary care
Stables owner Helen Medland admitted causing unnecessary suffering to three horses. These included a Shetland pony named Sony who’d been left to suffer for several months with chronic laminitis – an extremely painful hoof condition. Medland had ignored advice from a horse welfare officer to trim the pony’s hooves to avoid a recurrence of the condition.
RSPCA inspector Claire Ryder described Sony’s condition as “awful” with hooves so overgrown he could barely walk.
She added: “The veterinary surgeon who examined Sony concluded that he had undergone unnecessary suffering for several months because of the chronic laminitis and hoof overgrowth which has not been appropriately diagnosed and treated.”
Medland was responsible for a catalogue of neglect towards the horses.
The field where she kept them was said to be “very wet, muddy and waterlogged”.
None of the animals were given sufficient hay or water. Any hay that had been supplied was out of their reach but was mouldy in any case due to being left exposed to the elements.
In addition, Medland failed to provide any of them with proper hoof, dental, or medical care or to mitigate their exposure to lice.
Sentencing: 18-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; ordered to pay a total of £628. She was given a lifetime ban but can appeal after 15 years.
