Traveller Animal Crime covers cases where animal cruelty occurs within closed or hard‑to‑access travelling sites, where enforcement is obstructed by refusal of entry, intimidation, transient ownership or rapid animal movement. These cases often involve horse neglect, puppy farming, hare coursing, dog fighting, wildlife poaching and other offences carried out in environments that make inspection, reporting and prosecution extremely difficult. This category focuses on behaviour, access and enforcement barriers and highlights the serious welfare risks created when cruelty is hidden behind closed gates
Travellers Hames and Price, who are based in Raglan, Monmouthshire but have links to Derby and Hereford, were convicted of multiple animal welfare offences after prolonged neglect at a property in Leominster.
The case involved dogs, cats, horses, a duck and a guinea pig, all kept in conditions that failed to meet even the most basic welfare standards.
Both initially denied the allegations but changed their pleas to guilty on 1 September 2026.
The couple were found responsible for depriving the animals of adequate food, fresh drinking water and a suitable living environment.
Several of the animals were underweight, living in poor conditions and suffering from a lack of appropriate care.
Price also admitted separate offences relating to two horses — Moonshine, a piebald cob mare, and Mimi, a bay Dartmoor-type mare — whose welfare needs were not met due to inadequate hoof and dental care, parasite issues and malnutrition.
The prosecution was brought by the RSPCA, who described the animals as having suffered “significant neglect” while in the couple’s care.
Sentence
Court: Hereford Magistrates’ Court — 29 September 2026 Hames: 10‑year ban; community order (10 days of rehab); £50 fine; £114 surcharge; £350 costs; deprivation order for all five dogs. Price: 10‑year ban; 150 hours of unpaid work; £114 surcharge; £350 costs. Ban Expiry: September 2036 (no appeal for five years) Prosecutor: RSPCA
At a Glance
Defendants: Joeline Cathlyne Violet Hames (born c. 1980), Noah Hendri Amos Price (born c. 1983)
Address: Abergavenny Road, Raglan, Usk NP15 2AA
Occupation: Price — scrap‑metal collector, gardener and home improvements
This case concerns a one‑year‑old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Maggie, who was brought to a veterinary practice on 5 November 2025 in a catastrophic state of neglect. She belonged to a traveller named Thomas Buckworth, who goes by Tom Adams-Buckworth, who is from Ormesby, Middlesbrough.
The tiny dog was severely emaciated, motionless, soaked, infested with mites, and covered in matted faeces. Her breathing was described as “gasping, almost agonal”, and she made a “haunting, howling noise” as she struggled to lift her head.
The vet confirmed she was dying. Maggie was euthanised to end her suffering.
A post‑mortem examination found diffuse muscle loss, no visible body fat, and clear evidence of prolonged malnutrition. The report concluded she had endured a sustained period where her calorie intake was far below what a young dog needs to survive.
Buckworth, who has strong family links to the Stokesley area of Middlesbrough, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering.
Sentence
Buckworth received a 15‑week prison sentence, suspended for two years, and a 10‑year ban on keeping animals, which he cannot contest for eight years. He was also ordered to pay £1,082 in legal and veterinary fees.
RSPCA Statement
RSPCA Inspector Natalie Hill said: “Poor Maggie had clearly been suffering for some time… It is heartbreaking to think of any animal suffering in this way.”
At a glance
Offender: Thomas Buckworth (aka Tom Adams‑Buckworth) DOB: 25 April 2003 Age at Conviction: 23 Background: Traveller; backyard breeder; strong family links to Stokesley, Middlesbrough Location: Premier Road, Ormesby, Middlesbrough Victim: Maggie — one‑year‑old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Offence: Causing unnecessary suffering Condition: Severe emaciation; prolonged malnutrition; mites; matted faeces; agonal breathing; euthanised due to critical condition Sentence: 15 weeks’ imprisonment (suspended 2 years); £1,082 costs Animal Ban: 10‑year ban; cannot contest for 8 years (expires September 2036) Court: Teesside Magistrates’ Court Date: 15 September 2026
Serial equine abuser Henry Brewer – responsible for repeated neglect across multiple sites in Baildon and Esholt, including the collapsed foal found in 2023.
Case Summary
Serial equine abuser Henry Brewer of the Esholt Lane Caravan Site, Baildon, Shipley, left a nine‑month‑old foal collapsed in a filthy, squalid stable with a body condition score of 1/5.
Brewer was previously convicted in November 2017 for equine neglect and has now lost his appeal against seven further animal welfare convictions relating to 18 horses kept across three sites in Baildon and Esholt.
Brewer insisted his horses were “fine” despite repeated warnings, notices, and veterinary advice.
Officers found limited water, insufficient hay, poor body condition, and ongoing welfare failures across multiple visits.
Offender Overview
Name: Henry Brewer Born: 18 September 1969 Age at Conviction: 56 Last Known Address: Esholt Lane Caravan Site Esholt Lane Baildon Shipley BD17 7RJ Occupation: Unemployed / Traveller Previous Convictions:
November 2017 — Causing unnecessary suffering to horses (UKACF case file available) Additional Information:
Known to authorities for long‑term equine neglect
Horses kept across multiple sites: Old Hollins Hill, Park Lane (Baildon), and Esholt
Serial non‑compliance with RSPCA advice and improvement notices
Incident Details
The RSPCA investigation began in January 2023 after concerns were raised about horses in Brewer’s care. Officers found limited water, insufficient hay, and poor body condition, issuing notices for improvement.
On 18 January 2023, officers attended Old Hollins Hill and Park Lane with police and a vet. Three underweight horses — including a young foal — were removed due to immediate welfare concerns. Follow‑up visits found continuing issues and a lack of forage.
On 6 March 2023, officers attended Brewer’s Esholt site, where a nine‑month‑old skewbald colt was found collapsed in a stable with a body condition score of 1/5. The stable had no bedding, and the floor was uneven brick and concrete. Police removed the colt and further horses due to the severity of the neglect.
A specialist equine vet stated: “The poor body conditions of some of the horses were very obvious to see. They were visually in varying degrees of very poor condition. The owner had been previously warned about providing supplementary forage at all times.”
Brewer told officers he believed the horses’ condition was “fine.”
Animal Victims
18 horses across three sites
Nine‑month‑old skewbald colt found collapsed (BCS 1/5)
Multiple horses underweight and in poor condition
Four ponies euthanised due to poor health
Remaining horses made good progress in RSPCA care
Three foals born to mares already pregnant at the time of removal
Sentence
Court: Bradford Crown Court Date: Appeal dismissed 3 September 2026
Penalty:
14‑week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months
10‑year disqualification from owning equines (expires September 2036)
100 hours unpaid work
10‑day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement
Ordered to pay court costs
Mitigation: None of significance; Brewer maintained horses were “fine” despite overwhelming evidence of neglect.
RSPCA Statement
An RSPCA spokesperson said: “This was a very upsetting case for our rescuers to investigate. Seeing this number of horses, including a foal, being let down by their owner — who continued to fail to provide suitable care despite advice and notices — was frustrating and very sad.”
Some offenders teach you exactly what happens when the justice system gives someone a second chance they never deserved. Henry Brewer is one of them.
And yet, despite all of this, Brewer walked out of court with no ban. No restriction. No barrier preventing him from owning horses again.
He was ordered to do unpaid work and pay costs — a sentence that meant nothing to a man who had already shown he was willing to hide suffering animals behind caravans and deny there was a problem.
Brewer even told the court he had “always kept his horses like that” and didn’t see anything wrong with it. That should have been the moment the system recognised the danger. It wasn’t.
When Brewer was convicted in 2017, the evidence was already overwhelming: starving foals, filthy stables, makeshift rope harnesses, hidden horses, and a level of neglect so severe that one mare, Lily, had to be euthanised.
The photos of Tom Jones, trussed up and skeletal, sparked national outrage. Juliette was found in squalor on the same travellers site. Both foals were so thin and weak that their recovery took months of specialist care.
The consequences of that failure arrived almost exactly as anyone familiar with equine welfare would expect.
By 2023, Brewer was once again keeping horses in appalling conditions across three separate sites. Officers found limited water, insufficient hay, and animals in visibly poor condition. Notices were issued. Advice was given. Nothing changed. Brewer insisted the horses were “fine.”
Then came the moment that defined this case: A nine‑month‑old foal, collapsed on an uneven brick floor, lying in a stable with no bedding, body condition score 1/5, barely clinging to life.
This wasn’t an accident. This wasn’t ignorance. This was a man who had already been told — by vets, by inspectors, by a court — exactly what he was doing wrong. And he simply chose to do it again.
But there is another uncomfortable truth that must be acknowledged. Even if Brewer had been banned in 2017, it is doubtful that the ban would have been meaningfully adhered to.
Brewer comes from a large, extended family network on the Esholt Lane travellers site, and during the 2016–2017 investigation it was already clear that horses moved between relatives, were hidden from inspectors, and were kept across multiple plots and fields. In cases like Brewer’s, bans only work when the offender respects the law — and Brewer has never shown any willingness to do so.
He hid horses. He denied obvious suffering. He insisted emaciated animals were “fine.”
With that mindset, a ban in 2017 would almost certainly have been circumvented through informal transfers of ownership within the family, leaving the horses in the same environment and under the same practical control.
The tragedy is that a ban might have made it easier for authorities to intervene earlier, but it would not have prevented the suffering entirely.
Brewer’s behaviour — hiding horses, ignoring notices, denying reality — shows a pattern of deliberate evasion that goes far beyond simple neglect.
The 2026 conviction finally imposes a 10‑year equine ban, but it comes nearly a decade too late, and only after more horses suffered, more died, and a foal was found collapsed on bare brick.
This is what happens when the system underestimates repeat offenders. This is what happens when courts fail to impose bans on individuals who have already demonstrated a pattern of cruelty. This is what happens when warnings, notices, and advice are given to someone who has no intention of changing.
Brewer’s history was written in suffering long before this conviction. The signs were there. The warnings were there. The evidence was there.
The ban should have been there too.
UKACF exists because of cases like this — cases where animals pay the price for human failure, institutional hesitation, and judicial leniency. Brewer’s horses deserved better in 2017. They deserved better in 2023. They deserve better now.
And their suffering will be documented, remembered, and used to demand better protection for the next animals who cannot speak for themselves.
Left: Offie Price, who kicked the dog. Right: Jesse Price, who kicked a woman in the stomach.
Case Summary
Travellers Jesse Price and Offie Price assaulted a man, a woman, and a dog during an aggressive incident outside the Milano kebab shop in Great Yarmouth on 13 August 2026. The attack involved kicking, punching, and damaging property. The dog, although kicked hard in the ribs, did not sustain lasting injuries.
Both offenders pleaded guilty to multiple charges and were sentenced to unpaid work and compensation orders.
Offender Overview
Jesse Price
Name: Jesse Price
Born: 10 September 1998
Age at Conviction: 28
Last Known Address: Cambridge
Occupation: Gardener
Previous Convictions: Not reported
Additional Information: Found in possession of cannabis at the time of the incident.
Offie Price
Name: Offie Price
Born: 25 July 2002
Age at Conviction: 24
Last Known Address: Cambridge
Occupation: Gardener
Previous Convictions: Not reported
Additional Information: Expressed remorse in court, stating he was “utterly appalled” at kicking the dog and describing himself as “an animal lover”.
Incident Details
On 13 August 2026, outside the Milano kebab shop in Great Yarmouth, Ellie Rouse and her friend Jack Lovick witnessed a male ripping a wing mirror off a car. Ms Rouse approached Jesse Price to check on him, at which point he attempted to take her phone and delivered a hard kick to her stomach.
Offie Price confronted Mr Lovick, calling him a “snitch” before punching him in the face, knocking his glasses into the road. As Mr Lewis (a witness) picked up the glasses, Offie Price kicked his dog in the ribs, causing the dog to yelp. The dog was fortunate not to suffer lasting injury.
Both men were intoxicated during the incident.
Sentence
Court
Great Yarmouth Magistrates’ Court
Date
September 2026
Penalty
Jesse Price:
120 hours of unpaid work
£150 compensation
Convicted of assault by beating and possession of cannabis
Offie Price:
120 hours of unpaid work
£229 compensation
Convicted of assault by beating, criminal damage, and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal
Mitigation
Both defendants claimed the behaviour was out of character and attributed their actions to intoxication. Offie Price expressed particular remorse for kicking the dog, stating he was “deeply sorry” and “can’t believe he behaved that way.”
Police mugshot of Billy Banks, jailed for abusing a live rabbit and posting the footage online.
Summary
Billy Banks, who has a long criminal history, was jailed after filming himself abusing a live rabbit and posting the footage to a public hare‑coursing group on Facebook.
He received six months for the animal cruelty offence and a further sentence for Class A drug supply and possession of criminal property, bringing his total prison term to six years and one month.
Offender Overview
Name: Billy Banks
Born: circa 1993
Age at Conviction: 33
Last Known Address: Fraser Road, Poole
Previous Convictions Banks has a long criminal history including burglary, money laundering, drug supply, and animal cruelty.
Additional Information Official court documents do not confirm Banks’ ethnicity or community affiliation. However, several of his offences intersect with criminal subcultures commonly monitored within rural and travelling networks — including illegal hare coursing and rogue trading.
Summary of Offence
On 3 October 2025, Banks filmed himself abusing a live rabbit at Broadstone Recreation Ground, Poole. He uploaded the footage to an open hare‑coursing Facebook group, enabling officers to identify him.
The video shows Banks:
pulling a live rabbit from a bag
setting a young lurcher‑type dog on it
kicking the rabbit repeatedly to force it to run so the dog could continue chasing it
Police arrested him in November 2025. He pleaded guilty at Poole Magistrates’ Court on 28 May 2026 and was sentenced at Bournemouth Crown Court on 7 August 2026.
Sentence
6 months’ imprisonment for causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal
10‑year ban on owning or keeping dogs, rabbits, or hares
Further sentence: Banks also received additional prison time for Class A drug supply and possession of criminal property, bringing his total sentence to 6 years and 1 month
Police Statement
Police Constable Chandler Organ said Banks’ actions were “unacceptable” and confirmed that officers will continue to investigate similar reports.
Related Criminal History
2024 – Money Laundering Linked to Rogue Trading
Banks (then aged 30) and his brother Jake Holland were sentenced for laundering over £50,000 stolen from an elderly dementia patient in Corsham.
Billy Banks: 18 months’ imprisonment
Jake Holland: 9‑month suspended sentence + 200 hours unpaid work
The victim was manipulated by rogue traders into believing his roof required urgent repairs. He paid out large sums in cash and cheques, two of which were written directly to Banks and Holland. Both men admitted laundering the money.
CONVICTED (2026) | Luke Jason Wall, born c. 1990, of Webster Road, Stanford-le-Hope SS17 – stole a King Charles spaniel and her four puppies during a burglary.
Lewis Wall is now behind bars after stealing a mother King Charles spaniel and her puppies.
Career criminal Wall, who is known to have connections to Ipswich, Stanford‑le‑Hope, Grays, Tilbury, Colchester, Cambridge and Kent, has been jailed after stealing the five dogs during a violent burglary that left the victim traumatised.
Stolen King Charles Spaniel and her four puppies — two are still missing after Wall’s “heartless and calculated” burglary.
Wall, who may also use the names Martin Wall, Luke Rock, or Ray Patmore, targeted homes in Walsham‑le‑Willows and Coney Weston in late 2025.
During the Coney Weston break‑in on December 2, 2025, Wall smashed his way into the property, ransacked rooms, and stole jewellery along with a mother King Charles Spaniel and her four puppies. The theft left the owner devastated.
Two puppies and their mother were later recovered thanks to their microchips, but two puppies are still missing.
A repeat offender in and out of prison, Wall has spent years bouncing between burglaries, arrests and jail cells.
The victim described Wall’s actions as “heartless and calculated”, saying the emotional damage caused by the theft of her dogs will stay with her for a long time. She also told the court she no longer feels safe in her home while recovering from cancer.
Wall posing in a hotel room with wads of dirty cash — a snapshot of the career criminal’s life between burglaries, dog thefts and prison sentences.
Wall was arrested in Essex on June 8, 2026 and sentenced to two years in prison at Ipswich Crown Court on July 21.
Suffolk Police praised the detective work that secured the charges, stressing the severe impact burglary and animal theft have on victims and communities.
CONVICTED (2026) | Colwyn Robert Probert, born 13 November 1987, of Kingsmoor Common Caravan Park, Kilgetty SA68 0YF – illegally trapped wild goldfinches in his garden and confined them to overcrowded, filthy cages.
Pembrokeshire traveller Colwyn Probert received a 15-year bird-keeping ban and a suspended prison sentence after being prosecuted for illegally trapping and cruelly confining dozens of wild goldfinches.
Probert, a traveller, was prosecuted following an RSPCA raid at a property in The Glebe, Tenby, where inspectors uncovered dozens of goldfinches and other wild species held in captivity.
The case began when a rural crime officer from Dyfed-Powys Police flagged suspicious activity regarding wild birds being trapped in a residential garden.
When RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Ellie West and police raided the location, they discovered a severe hoarding and trapping operation:
Over a dozen goldfinches and a mule-type bird were locked in an outdoor aviary.
An additional 14 birds were cramped inside tiny cages within an adjacent room.
Three live-traps, metal identification rings, and ring cutters were seized on-site. One trap had been actively deployed next to a garden bird feeder.
The RSPCA noted that the birds exhibited severe distress, frantically flying into the cage bars in an attempt to escape.
An ornithological expert confirmed the birds were wild-caught, pointing to their dark leg coloration and injuries.
Several birds had sustained severe beak damage from striking the bars, and one had lost its tail. The expert concluded the birds had been kept in illegally overcrowded, filthy conditions without access to clean water.
During sentencing, the District Judge noted that the birds were likely trapped for commercial sale, telling Probert:
“You put wild birds who should be free and wild in unsuitable cages, which must have been extremely stressful for them.”
The seized birds were taken into RSPCA custody and transferred to the Mallydams Wood Wildlife Centre in East Sussex. After undergoing rehabilitation, they were successfully released back into the wild.
Following the trial, RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben condemned Probert’s actions, stating that the birds were “treated like commodities” rather than living creatures.
He reminded the public that under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, it remains strictly illegal to deliberately kill, injure, or capture any wild bird without a specific license.
Sentencing | eight-week custodial suspended for two years; six-month curfew; 28 days of ‘rehabilitation’; £400 in prosecution costs and £154 victim surcharge; confiscation of all seized traps, cages and bird rings. A 15-year disqualification from keeping birds.
CONVICTED (2026) | wildlife persecutorJames Kempster, born c. 1986, of the Bury Brickfield Park travellers site, Marchwood Road, Eling, Totton, Southampton SO40 4JW – for possession of two dead birds of prey dumped along with the bodies of 50 deceased hares outside a shop.
Kempster, a traveller, was sentenced for possessing two protected birds which were stuffed under the door handles of a village shop alongside the 50 dead hares.
The father of three was convicted following a trial of two counts of possessing a dead bird under the Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Prosecutor Adam Cooper said Kempster had been convicted of possessing the birds at some point but found not guilty of a charge of criminal damage, meaning he was cleared of involvement in the shop incident.
The trial heard DNA found on the birds, which were dumped in the early hours of 15 March 2024, was linked to the defendant.
Cooper told the magistrates: “There was no expert evidence on the manner or time of death. Your worships are entitled to draw conclusions that the birds were recently killed rather than rotting specimens or for taxidermy.
“That therefore places the defendant’s handling of the birds closer to them being discovered outside the shop.”
The court heard Kempster, who left school at the age of 12, had previous convictions for dishonesty as well as wildlife crimes including trespassing for game including for hares.
The trial was told CCTV footage showed three men arriving in a car with two men getting out and dumping the hares.
One of the men, who were both wearing balaclavas, is then seen to “tear” the body of a hare and smear blood on the shop front before stuffing a dead kestrel and a barn owl under the door handles in what Cooper described as a “horror movie scene”.
The car was found burnt out in a country lane after the incident.
Sentencing Kempster, chairman of the magistrate panel Gary Chant told him: “There is some aggravation, you have previous convictions, you continue to deny the offence and there was minimal co-operation.”
Sentencing | 15-month community order including 30 days of rehabilitation activity; six-month tagging order; fined £120 and ordered to pay costs of £650 with a £114 court surcharge.
CONVICTED (2026) | Mel Fagan, born c. 1974, of Lancaster Gate, Nelson – for hare coursing offences.
Fagan was convicted of trespassing on land in pursuit of hares with dogs and being equipped for searching for or pursuing hares with a sight hound dog and a 4 x 4 Nissan X-Trial, with the intention to use them in the course of or in connection with the commission of an offence of trespass, at South Somercotes, Lincolnshire, on 12 February 2025.
He was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) for 15 years and fined £500. He must pay £400 CPS costs and £200 victim surcharge.
The CBO means he is now prohibited from entering with or being in the company of anyone with dogs of any breed, between the 31 July and the 30 April (recognised as hare coursing season) the counties of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire or Nottinghamshire. He must not to be in any of the five listed counties with any instrument to be used for poaching either during the day or night-time.
CONVICTED (2026) | travellers Dick Price, Riley Price, Nelson Cooper, Jack O’Driscoll, Joseph Herne, James Herne, Michael Stevenson and Edward Stephenson.
Clockwise from top-left: Jack O’Driscoll, Joe Herne, Riley Price, Michael Stevenson and James Herne.
The eight men, who are all travellers, were prosecuted after attending a hare coursing event at Keal Cotes, Lincolnshire, on 2 December 2024.
Officers from Lincolnshire Police attended the scene after receiving reports of hare coursing.
An investigation, collating witness evidence, intelligence and interviews led to them being charged and convicted.
Jack O’Driscoll, born c. 1998, of Barnet Road, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire: convicted of attending a hare coursing event, being equipped for searching for, or pursuing hares with dogs and stealing food from Ulceby Cross service station to the value of £5. He was handed a Criminal Behaviour Order for five years which forbids him entering Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire or Northamptonshire between 31 July and 30 April, with any instruments which could be used for poaching either during the day or at nighttime. A deprivation order was made depriving him of his rights to a set of binoculars and a thermal camera. He must pay CPS costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £114. In addition, he was given an unpaid work requirement of 100 hours to be completed in 12 months.
Dick Price, born c. 1976, of the travellers site in Tolney Lane, Newark on Trent, Nottinghamshire NG24 1DA: convicted of attending a hare coursing event, driving a black Land Rover Freelander without reasonable consideration for other road users, driving the vehicle without insurance and failing to stop for police. He was fined £800, given 9 penalty points on his driving licence. He must also pay CPS costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £320.
Riley Price, born 30 August 2005, also of the Tolney Lane travellers site in Newark: convicted of attending a hare coursing event. He was fined £500 and must pay CPS costs of £250 and a victim surcharge of £200.
Nelson Cooper, born November 1986, of Tillingbourne Green, Orpington, Bromley BR5 2HS: convicted of attending a hare coursing event. He was fined £100 and must pay a victim surcharge of £40.
James Robert Herne, born 21 October 2000, of the travellers site on Chesterton Fen Road, Milton, Cambridge CB4 1TH: convicted of attending a hare coursing event. He was fined £400 and must also pay CPS costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £160.
James Herne
Joseph Herne, born 27 April 2002, of the same Chesterton Fen Road travellers site: convicted of attending a hare coursing event. He was fined £400 and must pay CPS costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £160.
Edward Stephenson, born c. 1998, of the same Chesterton Fen Road travellers site: convicted of attending a hare coursing event. He was fined £400 and must pay CPS costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £160.
Michael Stevenson, born c. 1999, of the same Chesterton Fen Road travellers site: convicted of attending a hare coursing event and was fined £400. He must pay CPS costs of £400 and a victim surcharge of £160.
