Category Archives: Global Monkey Torture Network

This sub‑category covers cases linked to the global monkey torture network, an organised online criminal group responsible for the coordinated abuse, trafficking and exploitation of primates. Offenders within this network collaborate across borders to produce, share or monetise abusive content, often involving illegally obtained or trafficked primates kept in hazardous, unregulated environments.

Several UK offenders have been prosecuted for participating in or supporting this international network, including individuals involved in commissioning, distributing or encouraging abusive material. These cases represent some of the highest‑risk forms of organised animal crime, characterised by cross‑border coordination, online anonymity, financial incentives and severe welfare violations. This sub‑category identifies cases where involvement in the global monkey torture network is central to the offending, with specific crime types classified under the relevant cruelty or organised‑crime categories.

Animal Torture, England, Glasgow & West Scotland, Global Monkey Torture Network, London, North West England, Organised Animal Crime, Physical Violence, Primates, Psychological Abuse, Scotland, Serial Animal Abusers, West Midlands, Worst of the Worst, Zoosadism

Bexley, Greater London: Bartosz Poklek

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Head‑and‑shoulders police mugshot of Bartosz Poklek against a plain light‑coloured background, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression.
Polish national Bartosz Poklek was convicted in London for running an international monkey‑torture network.

Bartosz Poklek, a 30‑year‑old Polish national living in Bexley, south‑east London, was convicted at Woolwich Crown Court after admitting to running a large‑scale international monkey‑torture network between June 2023 and September 2025.

He pleaded guilty to commissioning, scripting and distributing videos depicting the torture and killing of baby monkeys in South‑East Asia, as well as publishing obscene videos for gain, possessing indecent images of children, and possessing ketamine.

Judge Christopher Grout described the case as the worst example of animal abuse he had encountered and imposed a sentence of three years and three months, of which Poklek will serve roughly one third under the Sentencing Act 2026.

Bartosz Poklek was not an outlier but a central node in the Global Monkey Torture Network — a sprawling, transnational web of online zoosadists whose appetite for cruelty has pulled in offenders from Scotland, England, and the United States.

Side‑by‑side composite image. Left: A social‑media style portrait of Natalie Herron, facing the camera against a plain background. Right: A police mugshot of Peter Stanley, also facing the camera. Both images are cropped to head‑and‑shoulders format.
Police mugshot of Peter Stanley alongside a social‑media photograph of Natalie Herron. Both have convictons related to the global monkey‑torture network.
Two police mugshots shown side by side. Left: Holly Le Gresley, facing the camera against a plain background. Right: Adriana Orme, also facing the camera against a plain background. Both women appear in neutral lighting with straightforward identification‑style portraits
Police mugshots of Holly Le Gresley (left) and Adriana Orme (right), both convicted for their roles in the global monkey‑torture network.

Like Natalie Herron of Airdrie, Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme of Worcestershire, and Peter Stanley of Liverpool, Poklek belonged to the same grotesque digital underworld: a community that fetishised the suffering of baby monkeys and treated torture as entertainment, currency, and social capital.

Poklek’s role was unusually active. Operating from a rented room in Bexley, he commissioned, scripted, distributed and profited from videos depicting the torture and killing of infant monkeys in South‑East Asia. He was not merely a consumer but a facilitator — a man who wrote instructions for how the animals should be harmed, who liaised with perpetrators abroad, and who curated a vast personal archive of abuse.


Saving Mini: Inside the global network torturing baby monkeys – BBC World Service

Within the online groups he frequented, he was treated with reverence and known by titles such as “The General” and “The Boss”, a status that seemed to compensate for the reality of his life: an isolated, drug‑dependent loner living in an HMO.

The footage he collected and circulated was sold for hundreds of pounds to members of Telegram and Discord groups that numbered in the hundreds.

These groups were not fringe corners of the internet but thriving, international communities whose members discussed torture with chilling casualness. Investigators described conversations in which participants moved seamlessly from planning abuse to chatting about gardening or family errands. One British woman ended a discussion about torture by announcing she needed to pick up her grandchildren.

Animal abuser Bartosz Poklek is shown standing outdoors in daylight, with brick houses and chimneys behind him. A wooden fence runs along the right side of the scene. The sky is partly cloudy, and bright sunlight from behind creates a soft backlit effect.

Poklek’s offending was uncovered after he attempted to obtain court documents from a related monkey‑torture case in the United States — a move that drew the attention of Homeland Security Investigations and triggered a joint operation involving the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the Metropolitan Police, West Mercia Police, and US federal agencies. When officers examined his devices, they found around 3,000 videos of extreme physical abuse, alongside indecent images of children.

Judge Christopher Grout, sentencing him at Woolwich Crown Court, described the case as the worst example of animal abuse he had encountered in his career. He noted that Poklek would serve only around a third of his three‑year‑three‑month sentence under the Sentencing Act 2026 and stated plainly that the statutory maximum for animal cruelty — currently five years — is “too low”.

The CPS called Poklek a “key cog in a vile trade” and emphasised the need to root out the enablers of online animal torture wherever they are found.

Poklek may be deported to Poland after release. Even that feels insufficient. His crimes were not impulsive acts of cruelty but sustained, organised, deliberate sadism.

The monkeys he targeted were babies: intelligent, social, sensitive animals whose suffering was turned into a commodity for an international audience of zoosadists. Poklek revelled in their pain. The law, as it stands, barely registers it.

Metadata

  • Full Name: Bartosz Poklek
  • Born: circa 1996
  • Address: Bexley, South‑East London
  • Case Location: London, England
  • Conviction Date: October 2026
  • Court: Woolwich Crown Court
  • Offence: Commissioning, scripting, distributing and profiting from videos depicting the torture and killing of baby monkeys; publishing obscene videos for gain; possession of indecent images of children; possession of ketamine
  • Animal(s): Baby monkeys (primates)
  • Outcome For Animals: Tortured and killed in commissioned videos
  • Investigating Bodies: National Wildlife Crime Unit; Metropolitan Police; West Mercia Police; US Homeland Security Investigations; US Fish and Wildlife Service
  • Sentence: 3 years 3 months imprisonment; eligible for release after serving approximately one third
  • Previous Convictions: Not publicly reported
  • Additional Notes: Revered within the monkey‑torture community; known as “The General” and “The Boss”; possessed approximately 3,000 videos of extreme abuse; attempted to obtain US court documents relating to a connected case; part of the same organised network as UKACF‑documented offenders Natalie Herron, Holly Le Gresley, Adriana Orme and Peter Stanley
  • Reporting Gaps: Exact number of animals harmed; identities of overseas perpetrators; full extent of Poklek’s communications with other UK‑based offenders

BBC News
Crown Prosecution Service
Daily Mail

Animal Torture, Glasgow & West Scotland, Global Monkey Torture Network, Organised Animal Crime, Primates, Scotland, Zoosadism

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire: Natalie Herron

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CONVICTED (2025) | Natalie Herron, born c. 1996, of Hyslop Street, Airdrie ML6 0ES – for her involvement in a global monkey torture network.

Global monkey torture network member Natalie Herron from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Sick Natalie Herron helped arrange for baby monkeys to be tortured and killed.

Mother-of-two Herron joined online chat groups which encouraged torture of macaques by offenders based in Indonesia.

Airdrie Sheriff Court heard how she became a group administrator for the network, which was exposed by a BBC investigation, and shared hundreds of images and videos of the abuse.

The group paid for baby long-tailed macaques to be taken from their mothers in Indonesia before they were tortured and killed.

The acts of cruelty included crucifixion, machete attacks and one video that showed a baby monkey being dipped in boiling oil.

The court heard how Herron had made contact online with Michael Macartney, the US-based ringleader of the network who used the alias “The Torture King”.

Investigators from the National Crime Agency alerted Police Scotland and a raid on Herron’s home in 2022 discovered an iPhone with 1,084 images and videos of monkey torture.

Global monkey torture network member Natalie Herron from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Investigators discovered 4,000 messages on a WhatsApp group which had been sent by Herron discussing torture and hatred of the animals.
Messages included one that said: “I am shocked how easily the drill went through the skull, it was like butter.”

Another message read: “Trying to find a video where they will kill the mum and the babies watch.”

She admitted two charges of possessing and distributing obscene material, namely videos depicting animal torture, between October 2021 and September 2022 at her home address.

She admitted a further charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by sending messages to various online and social media groups which described and promoted animal torture.

The court was told she made payments to Macartney but she claimed it was not for the videos but to “help him”.

Global monkey torture network kingpin Michael Macartney from Chesapeake, Virginia, USA>
Monkey torture kingpin Michael Macartney from Chesapeake, Virginia, USA.

Macartney was jailed in October 2024 after pleading guilty in the US state of Virginia to conspiracy to create and distribute animal cruelty videos. He was sentenced to three years and four months in prison.

A month later, Adriana Orme, 56, from Upton-upon-Severn, and Holly Le Gresley, 37, from Kidderminster, were jailed after admitting being part of the global network.

Adriana Orme (left) and Holly Le Gresley were part of the same depraved monkey torture network and were both jailed in 2024.
Adriana Orme (left) and Holly Le Gresley were part of the same depraved monkey torture network and were both jailed in 2024.

Police Scotland officers said it was one of the most horrific cases they had dealt with and the material was like nothing they had seen before.
Det Sgt Karen Murray said: “This was a long and complex investigation which involved a number of organisations including the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and was the first of its kind in the UK.

“Thanks to the work of these organisations, Herron will now face the consequences of her actions which contributed to the cruel torture and immense suffering of a number of innocent animals.”

She added: “This was one of the most disturbing and graphic cases we have worked on and we hope this sentence shows that even though the cruelty took place abroad, that these types of crimes will not be tolerated and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold people accountable.”

Global monkey torture network member Natalie Herron from Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, Scotland.

Det Insp Mark Harrison, from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: “This investigation is truly shocking and unsettling.

“The people involved are not just motivated by money, this is also about getting some sort of gratification from watching animals being tortured and then sharing those images with others.”

Procurator fiscal Faye Cook said: “The videos and images that Natalie Herron bought and shared online are horrendous.

“These animals were shown to be suffering extreme pain. This has been a distressing case for the prosecution team and police, but we have held Natalie Herron accountable.

“Individuals involved in the distribution of graphic and obscene online content depicting violent torture should be forewarned that this behaviour is not only repellent, but is against the law and will be prosecuted.”

Sentencing | two years and three months in prison.

Scottish Sun
BBC News
Daily Mail

Animal Torture, Denial of Veterinary Treatment, England, Global Monkey Torture Network, Organised Animal Crime, Primates, West Midlands, Worst of the Worst, Zoosadism

Kidderminster / Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire: Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme

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CONVICTED (2024) | Holly Le Gresley, born 21 December 1986, of 7 Baldwin Road, Kidderminster DY10 2UB and Adriana Orme, born c. 1968, of The Beeches, Ryall, near Upton-upon-Severn, Worcester WR8 0QQ – active participants in a global monkey torture ring.

UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
Monkey torture enthusiasts Holly Le Gresley (left) and Adriana Orme were both jailed after engaging in chat rooms dedicated to causing torture to baby monkeys..

Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were imprisoned for their involvement in the creation, distribution and viewing of disturbing and extreme animal cruelty content depicting the torture of primates. The pair pleaded guilty to offences under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 and the Serious Crime Act 2007.

They admitted being part of a twisted global network where video makers in Indonesia and other Asian countries were commissioned to horrifically torture, often to death, baby long-tailed macaque monkeys on film. The videos were then shared, usually for payment, across online platforms worldwide.

The pair’s involvement was exposed after a BBC investigation into the network, which began life on YouTube before moving to private groups on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.

UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.

Le Gresley, described by police as “an underachieving recluse” who had sought refuge in an online community that offered her a sense of status and worth. As well as acting as the administrator of the chat groups, she served as a content archivist, cataloguing and distributing some of the footage.

She engaged in particular with a man who self-styled himself as ‘Torture King’ – later unmasked as Mike Macartney from Chesapeake, Virginia, USA, who then identified her as playing a key role in one of the online groups.

Under her online moniker “The Immolator”, she uploaded 132 videos and 22 pictures of infant monkeys being maimed with power tools, burnt alive and doused with acid.

On one occasion, she wanted a monkey to be put in a blender while clothed to “make the death more drawn out”.

She later set up a voting mechanism that allowed group members to decide on their preferred method of torture and death.

Her obsession led her to assemble an archive of 65 folders containing 3,000 images and videos, classified according to the torture taking place.

Video: West Mercia Police

She told police that she wanted to abuse baby monkeys because she had a pathological hatred of young children and pregnant women. However, a psychiatrist consulted by officers stated that Le Gresley was not suffering from any psychiatric or severe mental health disorders.

In court she admitted uploading images of monkey torture between 25 March and 8 May 2022 and making a payment of £17.24 to a PayPal account to encourage cruelty on 25 April 2022.

Dutch national Orme, a married mother-of-three, was said to be a “key member” of several groups, welcoming newcomers and organising bids. She admitted to sending one image and 26 videos featuring monkey torture into chat groups between 14 March 2022 and 16 June 2022. She had also made a £10 payment to a PayPal account – the price of seeing a baby macaque being tortured.

UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.
UK women Holly Le Gresley and Adriana Orme were jailed after being unmasked as leading members of a global monkey torture ring.

In mitigation, Tom Walkling representing Le Gresley, said she had been living with the knowledge of how she had behaved, had a long history of depression and anxiety and was “likely to be diagnosed with autism disorder”.

The court also heard Le Gresley now believed she had post-traumatic stress disorder from the videos.

Curtis Myrie, representing Orme, said she had several physical illnesses and described her as “a loving mother and grandmother”.

The court also heard how pre-sentence reports recognised how well she had cared for her rescue dog, Diesel.

The judge, who said he had been left “almost in disbelief” by the evidence in the case, told the defendants: “Quite what led you two women of good character and, I am satisfied, some intelligence, to engage in such a forum is beyond comprehension by any right-thinking member of society.”

He added: “Why there even exists such a forum is beyond comprehension and a sad indictment to humanity. You promoted the physical torture of monkeys by others and you disseminated videos of such torture and abuse.

“I would be failing in my public duty were I not to give you custodial sentences.”

‘Unequivocally the worst case I have ever seen’

Action for Primates, a UK-based advocacy project, assisted police in the investigation.

Its co-founder, Sarah Kite, said it was the most horrifying content she had ever encountered.

“For people such as Orme to think up methods of torturing helpless and vulnerable baby monkeys is beyond comprehension,” she said.

“To then pay for someone to inflict such extreme violence is so disturbing that I believe they must permanently be barred from having contact with children or animals.”

The head of the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU), who spearheaded the investigation alongside West Mercia Police, told UK newspaper The Telegraph that the level of suffering inflicted on the monkeys was “incomparable”, adding: “It’s unequivocally the worst case I have ever seen.”

Sentencing |
Le Gresley: jailed for two years.
Orme: jailed for 15 months,

West Mercia Police
BBC News
Advocates for Animals

Animal Sexual Abuse, Animal Torture, Denial of Veterinary Treatment, England, Global Monkey Torture Network, North West England, Organised Animal Crime, Physical Violence, Primates, Serial Animal Abusers, Worst of the Worst, Zoosadism

Dovecot, Liverpool: Peter Stanley

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CONVICTED (2024) | Peter Stanley, born c. 1982, of 75 Dovecot Avenue, Dovecot, Liverpool L14 7QJ – shared videos of baby monkeys being tortured on social media.

Liverpool zoosadist Peter Stanley shared videos of baby monkeys being tortured and killed on social media.

Stanley was part of a sickening private Facebook group called ‘Monkey Sauce’ where members were encouraged to view and post their own disturbing videos.

The court heard that Stanley posted three videos of baby macaque monkeys being abused between April 3 and June 24, 2023.

The videos, which varied between seven and 15 minutes in length, showed the baby monkeys being horrifically tortured by people believed to be in either Thailand or Indonesia.

The extreme videos included monkeys being nailed to a tree, mutilated and tortured with instruments including pliers, a hatchet and a machete.

Stanley also commented on the videos he shared. On one he said “now do as you are told”, while on another he said “a fav of mine this one”. On his third video he commented “this rat has nailed it”.

Mr Taylor and defence counsel Charles Lander told the court that there were no guidelines in which to refer to because the case was the first of its kind to be sentenced in the North West.

Holly LeGresley from Kidderminster and Adriana Orme from Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs, are due to be sentenced in October 2024 for their role in a global monkey torture network.
Holly LeGresley from Kidderminster and Adriana Orme from Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs, are due to be sentenced in October 2024 for their role in a global monkey torture network.

Mr Taylor referenced a case heard at Worcester Crown Court where two women, Adriana Orme of The Beeches, Upton-upon-Severn, Worcester WR8 0QQ, and Holly Le Gresley of 7 Baldwin Road, Kidderminster DY10 2UB are due to be sentenced in October 2024 for their own involvement in being part of a group that paid for baby monkeys to be taken from their mothers, then tortured and killed for pleasure.

The court heard Le Gresley admitted uploading 22 images and 132 videos. Both were exposed by a BBC investigation called ‘The Monkey Haters’ which uncovered the existence of streaming videos containing the torture of baby monkeys. Videos, primarily filmed in South-East Asia, and posted online showed the “disciplining” and tormenting of captive infant monkeys and the deliberate infliction of pain and fear, causing physical harm as well as emotional distress.

Investigations into the posting of these videos led officers to identify individuals across the UK and criminal investigations carried out by other police forces.

Stanley’s involvement in the sickening behaviour was exposed after the group Action for Primates passed information to the police regarding his behaviour because a volunteer inside the group saw what he was posting.

Stanley was arrested after a warrant was carried out at his home address on March 26,, 2024. His mobile phone, which was seized by police, showed online searches including “how to tell if a baby monkey is distressed” and bestiality pornography involving horses.

During his police interview he told officers he had begun by watching videos of monkeys in the wild and questioned how bad they could be hurt. He viewed about 70 videos in the private Facebook group between June 23 and October 23. He said he stopped after watching an extremely bad video.

Mr Taylor said the custodial threshold had been passed because of the extreme pain and suffering depicted in the material. He added: “Without defendants like this the trade would not continue.”

Stanley pleaded guilty to three counts of publishing an obscene article showing animal torture.

Sentencing Stanley, His Honour Judge Ian Harris told him: “These offences are utterly repellent and have no place in a civilised society. You were a volunteer, not a conscript.”

The judge told the defendant that an immediate custodial sentence was “unavoidable” and sentenced him to 20 months’ imprisonment.

Judge Harris also issued destruction of his mobile phone and the statutory surcharge.

Stanley’s parents Leslie and Jeanette Stanley were in court to support their son with them describing him as “a gentle giant”. Stanley attempted to hug his mum as he was led from the dock.

Speaking after the sentencing, Sarah Kite, founder of Action for Primates, said: “We are very grateful to Merseyside Police for taking this action against the posting of monkey torture videos on Facebook. Those individuals involved in distributing graphic and obscene content depicting the violent and sadistic torture and killing of baby monkeys need to know that their behaviour is not only vile, but is also a crime.

“We sincerely hope this prosecution and punishment will act as an important deterrent to others. We also hope that this prosecution will be a wake up call to Meta and other social media companies that continue to allow this highly disturbing and graphic content to be posted on their platforms.”

Thomas Quirk, senior crown prosecutor of Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The videos that Peter Stanley posted onto his page on the Facebook site are truly horrific. The torture imposed on these animals included sexual torture and it has been a distressing case for both the police and the prosecution team to deal with.

“Why anyone could possibly want to be involved in this sort of thing is impossible to understand. Peter Stanley was publishing videos of animals being brutally injured apparently for pleasure. His actions are against the law, and he is now facing the consequences.

“The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank the witnesses in this case and Merseyside Police for their help in bringing this dreadful case to a successful conclusion. Behind each of these images there were defenceless animals being abused. Peter Stanley presumably thought he was going to get away with this. How wrong he was.”

Sentencing | 20 months in prison.

Liverpool Echo
Metro