CONVICTED (2011) | Craig Alan Edwards, born June 1984, of 69 Jacksmere Lane, Scarisbrick, Ormskirk L40 9RT – left his dog with a large infected open wound believed to have been caused by a badger.
Edwards, who previously ran a pub in Buxton, High Peak, Derbyshire, was found guilty after a trial of six animal cruelty charges in relation to the unnamed dog.
Magistrates heard the dog had been kept in the upstairs accommodation which was bare, had mould, rubbish, an uncarpeted floor and dog mess everywhere.
Vets found two large substantial wounds to the lower jaw were infected and covered in a substantial amount of pus discharge. Surgery was not an option as the wound was too extensive and too infected.
Expert opinion was that the wound had been sustained in a fight with a badger.
Sentencing | jailed for 12 weeks. Banned from keeping animals for 10 years with the right of appeal after five (ban expired 2021).
CONVICTED (2011) | Jamie Rhys Davies, born 8 July 1992, of The Pines, Hirwaun, Aberdare CF44 9QW, Jason Andrew Jones, born 6 October 1985, of Wellfield Court, Church Village CF38 1DH, and Daniel Silivestros, born February 1989, of Station Road, Church Village CF38 1AH – beat a friendly fox to death.
Daniel Silivestros (left) and Jamie Davies.
Davies, Jones and Silivestros all walked free from court, despite admitting causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
The defendants were captured on CCTV taking turns to inflict misery on the animal, who died 20 minutes after the attack.
The male fox, dubbed Bellamy by staff at Tesco Upper Boat in Rhydyfelin, Pontypridd, was described as a “tame and friendly” animal by RSPCA prosecutor Aled Watkins.
He would often wait in the car park of the superstore to feed on scraps.
The three men, who had been drinking heavily, were seen by security staff abusing the animal at 3.20am on Saturday, September 18, 2010.
Still from the horrific CCTV footage showing the trio’s senseless attack on Bellamy the fox.
Mr Watkins told Rhondda Magistrates Court: “This was a graphic display of senseless violence.
“All three defendants played slightly different parts, with the result of their actions being the slow and painful death of the fox.
“There had been a group of youngsters inside the store buying beer and were kept under observation by security officers on CCTV, which captured the actions on that night.
“It appears Daniel Silivestros chased and caught the fox that was in the car park and was hiding under a car.
“He caught hold of the fox by its tail and was swinging it around from side to side. The animal was scared and in pain.
“In interview, Mr Silivestros admitted the fox was ‘going nuts’ as a result of his actions. This continued for about 10 seconds.
“Jason Jones then took the fox, put it behind his head and swung it head-first into a wall. The force used had been considerable.”
The final and youngest attacker, Jamie Davies, then walked up to the fox and kicked it and stamped on its head while it was “still whimpering”.
Magistrate Dewi Hughes said the case was “most appalling” and that only a custodial sentence would suffice.
Sentencing | 20-week sentence, suspended for 12 months,; 200 hours of community service; £600 costs each. Silivestros was also given a six-month curfew. All three were disqualified from owning a pet for the next 10 years (expired 2021).
CONVICTED (2011) | barbaric wildlife criminals Wayne “Podge” Lumsdon, born 8 December 1987, of 53 Park Road, Lynemouth, Morpeth NE61 5XJ and Connor Charles Patterson, born 18 June 1987, formerly of The Hope, Whitfield, Hexham, but as of April 2020 residing at Little Kenny Farm, Lintrathen, Kirriemuir, Angus DD8 5JD – forced animals to fight to the death and posted the footage on the internet
Wayne Lumsdon (left) and Connor Patterson got their kicks from watching animals tearing each other apart
Wayne Lumsdon and Connor Patterson were jailed for offences relating to badgers, foxes, dogs, cats and cockerels. The pair were also banned from keeping animals for 15 and eight years respectively after boasting about their antics in text messages and keeping photos.
Lumsdon pleaded guilty to willfully killing a badger and two counts of causing an animal fight to take place.
Apprentice gamekeeper Patterson pleaded guilty to two counts of causing an animal fight to take place.
Lumsdon is banned from keeping animals until 2026
Magistrates were read a series of texts exchanged by the pair in which Lumsdon bragged of “killing a badger” with his and another dog – something he described as “mint”.
The court was then shown a video of the badger being attacked by the two dogs, then footage of cocks fighting and again men’s voices could be heard encouraging them.
Magistrates heard clothes seen in the video were later traced to Lumsdon and that a text message of his referred to spurs used in cock fighting.
2022 image of Wayne Lumsdon with partner Madison Armstrong
Further footage was shown to the court of a fox which had been snared being attacked by a dog. A stick was thrust into the fox’s mouth and a boot – which was later traced to Patterson – was shown on its neck. Again, men could be heard laughing and encouraging the dog with cries of “kill it”.
In the final bit of footage, a fox was shown in a cage with a dog. The animals are seen fighting with men’s voices encouraging them and hands shown holding the fox’s ears through the cage.
In interview, Patterson admitted he had been an apprentice gamekeeper and had a national diploma in countryside and game management. While studying for this, he had learnt how to use snares and traps.
On 25 March 2011 Wayne Lumsdon and Connor Patterson had their jail sentences cut because of a legal technicality. Judges at Newcastle Crown Court were forced to cut their prison sentences because the pair had not been given credit for pleading guilty at an earlier hearing. Patterson had his sentence reduced to 16 weeks. Lumsdon’s 26 weeks was cut to 21 by a judge at a separate hearing.
In November 2012 Connor Patterson was convicted of further cruelty to animals alongside wife Caroline Patterson (aka Caroline Jordan) after a search warrant was executed at their cottage in Whitfield by Northumbria Police and RSPCA inspectors. A total of 55 animals including dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, turkeys, ducks and chickens were seized from the couple.
Connor Patterson and now ex-wife Caroline Patterson (now Caroline Jordan) outside court
The court heard animals had been left without a constant supply of fresh drinking water and some were underweight.
Dogs at the property were suffering from dental disease, while a turkey was left with an untreated lump in its ear.
Patterson was found to be in breach of his disqualification order although this and the cruelty charge were later overturned on appeal on the grounds that the animals were the responsibility of his wife.
Caroline Patterson was given a conditional discharge and was not banned from keeping animals.
CONVICTED (2011) | former gamekeeper Steven Metcalfe, born 2 May 1978, of Wensleydale Avenue, West Burton, Leyburn DL8 5SD – filmed a horrific attack by two dogs on a trapped fox.
The footage taken by Metcalfe on his mobile phone was so distressing that it made one of the magistrates cry when viewed in court.
The married father-of-two claimed he was not directly involved in the attack, but refused to name the two other men involved.
Kevin Campbell, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said the unidentified men had caught the fox and were keeping it in a sack with its mouth bound.
He said they told Metcalfe they wanted him to film their dogs attacking it “for training”.
The fox was then held down by its neck by one of the men, with its mouth still tied, as the dogs repeatedly tore into it at the unnamed location. It was later shot dead by one of the men, who are both known to Metcalfe.
When questioned by officers, he replied: “I didn’t think it was wrong – it’s just a dog killing a fox. It’s vermin.”
He had previously worked as a gamekeeper for four years and was trained in humane methods of killing animals.
Metcalfe admitted causing unnecessary suffering and being present at an animal fight.
Granville Rooley, mitigating, told the court that Metcalfe felt intimidated by the other two men and was not directly responsible for the incident.
“What he should have done was simply walked away from it once he realised what was going on,”
He added: “He did not because anyone who can set up this kind of thing are not the type of people you want to get on the wrong side of.”
Speaking afterwards, RSPCA Inspector Clare Wilson, said: “The video is extremely shocking and shows a deliberate and callous attack of great cruelty towards the fox.”
Sentencing | 16 weeks in prison. Banned from keeping dogs for ten years (expired 2021).
CONVICTED (2011) | hare coursers Eddie Cole, born 20 February 1982, and Matthew James Wenman, born 10 June 1986, both of South Oaks Caravan Park, Dorking Road, Chilworth, Guildford GU4 8NS but with links to Rudgwick, Horsham, West Sussex Matthew Giles, born c. 1979, of Hilltops Caravan Park, Stovolds Hill, Cranleigh GU6 8LE, Tony Frenny Giles, born 22 April 1985 of Twin Oaks, Knowle Lane, Cranleigh GU6 8JW and Nelson Hedges, born c. 1987, of Guildford Road, Normandy, Guildford GU3 2AR
Clockwise from bottom left Eddie Cole, Nelson Hedges, Tony Giles, Matthew Wenman, Matthew Giles
A group of illegal hare coursers who drove 150 miles to let their dogs chase hares in north Suffolk were fined and banned from driving in February 2011.
Eddie Cole, Matthew Giles, Tony Giles, Nelson Hedges and Matthew Wenman were each fined £1,000 and banned from driving for 56 days after they pleaded guilty to hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
Magistrates heard the five defendants had driven up from Surrey and Sussex with five dogs on December 12, 2010, and allowed their dogs to chase hares in a field in Flixton, near Bungay.
At least one hare was killed by the pack of dogs, which included a spring spaniel, a terrier and a seven-month-old puppy.
Colette Griffiths, prosecuting said the five men were found by police stretched out in a line as the dogs chased a hare which was killed.
Police had arrived at the field after a farmer in another field had noticed the men acting suspiciously and alerted officers.
In mitigation the court heard the men were all “extremely remorseful” and recognised “the consequences of their actions”.
Sentencing | fined £1,000 each plus £100 court costs.
Nelson Hedges was jailed for two months for dangerous driving after leading a 100mph police chase.
Officers from Cambridgeshire Police suspected Hedges was hare coursing in his silver Mazda Tribute after members of the public reported him.
The force’s Rural Crime Action Team (RCAT) spotted the vehicle, covered in mud and with dogs in the boot, driving through the village of Iselham, Cambs.
Police parked across the road and signalled Hedges to pull over but he swerved round the car, mounting a pavement, and sped off.
He drove at speeds of nearly 100mph in a 40mph zone and darted across two junctions without stopping.
In a bid to evade police capture, he even drove onto a field causing around £200 worth of damage to crops.
He was arrested after his vehicle came to a halt when police blocked it in another field.
Hedges was also disqualified from driving for 19 months, with an extended retest, after pleading guilty to dangerous driving and criminal damage,
CONVICTED (2011) | wildlife persecutors Mark Anthony Tiffin, born 2 September 1990, of 79 Downland Crescent, Knottingley WF11 0EJ, Ben Scott Lloyd Galsworthy, born 26 February 1978, of 1 Derwent Place, Knottingley WF11 0NL and Neil Burlingham, born c. 1975, of Clifford in Wetherby – caught hunting with dogs.
Mark Tiffen (left) and Ben Galsworthy
The trio, who were represented by Clive Rees, were found guilty of hunting a wild mammal with a dog but walked free from court with a conditional discharge.
All three men were arrested in Gateforth, Selby, in January 2010 after members of Selby Badger Watch reported seeing three men with dogs and shovels close to a badger sett which they were monitoring. The men denied they were hunting a wild mammal with a dog.
Tiffin told the court he had travelled with the other two men to look for rabbits, then to Hambleton Hough to “get rats out of mounds of muck”, before one of the dogs had run away.
The judge told the men that their stories were inconsistent whilst witnesses for the prosecution were credible and concise.
Tiffin, who at the time of his conviction was serving a 12-month prison sentence for causing death by dangerous driving, received a two-year conditional discharge.
Galsworthy and Burlingham also received two-year conditional discharges, and were ordered to pay costs of £500 each.
The two dogs, which had been examined by a vet at a cost of £2,092 were confiscated by the police but were later taken from the kennels by persons unknown.
Mark Tiffin was due to appear at Selby Magistrates Court on 24th March 2011 charged with being present at an animal fight. It is alleged that Tiffin used his mobile phone to record images of the animal fight and he faces a number of charges relating to this incident. Unfortunately no further details are available
Source: York Anti-Hunt League
Tiffin reportedly works as a ‘terrierman’ with the combined York and Ainsty South/Badsworth & Bramham Moor Hunt. Members of the York Anti-Hunt League took photographs of Tiffin, whose official role is to mend fences and open gates, during a “cubbing” meet.
Source: York Anti-Hunt League
He was pictured on a quad bike with spades clearly visible on the front of the vehicle. One disturbing image captured Tiffin literally with blood on his hands.
CONVICTED (2011) | persistent wildlife persecutor Christian Latcham, born c. 1987, of Morton Terrace, Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf CF40 2DP
Barbaric Christian Latcham set his dogs on badgers, foxes and deer . He is shown here with regular digging mate Jamie Rush. Rush was exposed alongside Latcham in a 2018 BBC Wales documentary entitled ‘ The Secret World of Badger Baiters’
Blood sports enthusiast Latcham – a father of six – pleaded guilty to two charges under the Animal Welfare Act and six charges under the Badger Act.
Latcham was told that his actions amounted to “unspeakable cruelty” but still avoided jail
The serial abuser was prosecuted after evidence of sickening cruelty towards badgers, foxes and deer were discovered on his mobile phone.
Prosecuting, Geraint Richards described to the court the disturbing pictures of a severed badger head, a photo of Latcham’s dogs savaging a badger and an image of a bloodstained Latcham holding up animal carcasses.
Latcham with two of his six children
The court heard how, on being arrested in 2009 for a separate offence, Latcham had aroused officers’ suspicion as he hurried to conceal his mobile phone.
When the police seized his phone they viewed images of the defendant holding up the carcasses of foxes, deer and badgers.
Clive Rees, defending, said the defendant lacked empathy and had limited social skills.
He said: “He has been unable to put himself in the place of the animals he was dealing with and to think and see through the things he was doing.”
Chairman of the bench Mike Hanley said: “These were deliberate and unprovoked actions which speak of unspeakable cruelty.”
Two dogs used to savage the badgers were taken away from Latcham.
RSPCA inspector Simon Evans said badger baiting had become a prevalent problem in South Wales.
He said: “Offending evidence in this type of case is rare, but this isn’t a one off.”
Sentencing: Five-month prison sentence, suspended for one year; 250 hours of unpaid work; £1,000 costs. Disqualified indefinitely from keeping dogs.
Despite having been banned indefinitely from keeping dogs Christian Latcham featured in an episode of BBC Wales Investigates entitled ‘The Secret World of Badger Baiters’.
The episode showed that Latcham not only had dogs but was still actively engaged in badger baiting alongside Jamie Rush. Other associates include Tomas Young and Ryan Harrison, who were jailed for badger baiting in June 2019. Young’s cruelty included skinning a badger cub alive before feeding it to his dogs.
CONVICTED (2010) | badger baiters Shaun Chapman, born 12/08/1981, of Rishworth Close, Bransholme, Hull HU7 5BG, Garry Arthur Douglas, born 21/07/1970, most recent known address Railway Cottages, Newport Road, Great Bridgeford ST18 9PR, and Terry Murray, born 1962 but now deceased, from Ottringham
L-R Shaun Chapman, Terry Murray, Garry Douglas
Shaun Chapman, Garry Douglas and Terry Murray were found guilty of a charge of interfering with a badger sett under section 3 of the Protection of Badgers’ Act 1992 following a one-day a trial at Hull Magistrates’ Court in September 2010.
The vile trio had denied disturbing the sett at Sunk Island, East Yorkshire, and claimed they were “bushing” for foxes and rabbits.
They were armed with two shovels, three terriers and an electronic dog collar locator when caught by Humberside Police.
2022 image of badger baiter Shaun Chapman
Chapman said his dog, a black Patterdale terrier, had gone into one of the holes of the sett after a fox.
He said he used a digital locator to follow his dog and the men used two spades to dig above the sett.
Douglas had his English bull terrier with him when arrested by the police. He said he had gone to East Yorkshire on invitation having met Chapman at a Welsh game fair. He said he didn’t go anywhere without his dog.
“I went out bushing to bolt a few foxes and rabbits,” said Douglas. “I didn’t dig.” Asked why not he laughed: “I’m too lazy.”
Douglas threw one of the spades away before the men left the area.
Humberside Police helicopter arrived at the scene and officers on the ground arrested the three defendants.
Their activities were captured on the force helicopter’s camera.
District Judge Frederick Rutherford told the men: “I found you approached a live sett knowing at the time it to be active.
“Your intention was to bait or kill animals by digging out the sett with the sole purpose of causing terror to a protected species.
“You had intended to cause extreme cruelty to the animals in this sett.”
The men were defended by Clive Rees.
Sentencing: 12-week suspended jail sentences; 200 hours of unpaid work; £2,000 each in costs.
CONVICTED (2010) | huntsman Alistair Thomas Robinson, born April 1962, of 1 Essendy House, Bampton Grange, Penrith CA10 2QR – flushed a fox from her den and beat her to death with a stick.
Robinson denied using dogs to hunt a fox but was convicted after a trial.
League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) members Ed Shephard and Paul Tillsey showed the court film footage of Robinson’s actions as an Ullswater Foxhounds ‘drag’ hunt passed Hartsop on October 26, 2009. The film showed the defendant take a fox from the ground where his two terriers had been running in tunnels.
The hunt was intended to be a legal ‘drag’, where dogs follow a scent planted by members. Robinson was filmed putting his black terrier into a hole in the area where a fox had been spotted.
Oliver King, prosecuting, said Robinson was seen by LACS members digging with a stick in the area where the fox had run underground, after the hunt moved on.
Robinson later admitted, in interview, he had killed the animal and buried her carcass in a dry stone wall, where LACS members later retrieved it. He claimed he did not intend to use dogs to kill the animal.
A post-mortem examination on the vixen was carried out by Stephen Harris at Bristol University. The examination revealed she had been attacked for ‘a prolonged period’ by dogs and received extensive injuries. The court heard that there were bite wounds to the fox’s face and she had a partially crushed skull.
Stephen Welford, defending, said Robinson had only sent his terrier underground to help track and bring out a four-year-old dog that had accidentally escaped its lead and run in.
When interviewed by Cumbria police, after his arrest, Robinson said: “The fox was in a bit of a state, so I gave it a couple of knocks to finish it off. It wouldn’t have survived.”
Sentencing | fined £250, ordered to pay £900 costs and a £15 surcharge.
CONVICTED (2009) | Shane Paul Burt, born c. 1989, of 10 Deans Avenue, Connah’s Quay, Deeside CH5 4QF – filmed his dog trying to kill a badger.
Burt was found guilty of wilfully attempting to kill a badger after being prosecuted under the Badgers Act 1992.
The court heard the horrible attack happened in Dock Road, Connah’s Quay, sometime between September 30 and November 26, 2008.
Acting on information there was mobile phone footage that would incriminate Burt, police executed a search warrant on his home.
They seized the phone, which was found to have about 30-seconds of sickening footage showing the dog attacking the badger.
The footage ends with the badger leaving the scene.
Burt told police his dog had been injured in the attack and that he had washed the injuries with warm, salted water.
He said that the dog – a lurcher/Staffy named Hooch – had since been put down.
After the case, North Wales Police Wildlife and Environmental Officer Sgt Rob Taylor said: “I am very pleased with the result. It was a callous and sick act.”
Sentencing | 150 hours of community service; £250 costs. Three-year ban on keeping animals (expired 2012).
