In April 2018, BBC Watchdog’s Rogue Traders exposed an illegal puppy farm being run from a rural property near Boston, Lincolnshire, by unscrupulous conmen Cameron Dorbin-Barnett, his partner David Saint Fleming and their friends Ronnie Hudgell and Callum Eglen.

The Watchdog team, led by consumer champion Matt Allwright, took up the case after being contacted by one buyer, who had been forced to shell out over £8,000 in vet’s fees to keep her gravely ill puppy alive.

In just six weeks, the team was able to link 22 private advertisements featuring 10 different breeds and using 11 aliases to ring leader Dorbin-Barnett and his associates.

As no council breeding or pet shop licence was held by any member of the ring, the business was also trading illegally.

Posing as a customer, a member of the team responded to an online advert on Pets 4 Homes for a golden doodle puppy. While this had been placed by a ‘private seller’ named ‘Derek W’, the advertiser was in fact Cameron Dorbin-Barnett, whose previous online aliases included Sarah P, Matt H, Anowar H, Tom B and Jack R. By claiming to be a private individual, Dorbin-Barnett was in breach of Pets 4 Homes’ terms and conditions and his advert was therefore fraudulent

On arrival at the location, Jessamine House Farm in Thornton le Fen, the investigator first met with another ring member Ronnie Hudgell before being introduced to Dorbin-Barnett himself. A hidden camera captured the latter lying through his teeth that the puppy had come from the one-off litter of a family pet, while giving inaccurate and life-endangering advice on puppy after-care.

The subdued puppy, who the team named Bibi, was taken immediately for veterinary examination. Vet Simon Thomas initially expressed his concern that Bibi’s posture was not typical of a young puppy. Far from being bright and vigorous, she was described as “terrified” and “scared of the world”. Swelling in her tummy coupled with rapid breathing were also causes for worry. Test results confirmed Bibi had heavy infestation with the parasite Giardia, a contagious condition caused by an unhygienic environment.

Despite being very unwell, the little pup was in the best of hands and, with emergency veterinary treatment, made a full recovery. Bibi was later rehomed, renamed Coco, and is enjoying life with new owners who dote on her.

In true Rogue Traders style, Matt Allwright confronted Dorbin-Barnett on his doorstep with the team’s findings, but the dodgy puppy dealer was not in the mood for talking and fled into his house. Matt explored the grounds of the farm with a camera-man, however, and came across an industrial kennel compound filled with mesh cages containing multiple breeds of dogs,

Dorbin-Barnett later contacted the show to profess that all of his dogs had been given a clean bill of health by a vet. He also claimed that trading standards were happy with his operation – unlikely seeing as he had no licence and was deliberately misleading customers.

After the Rogue Traders episode was aired, Rebecca Mosley, who featured in the show with her dog Milo, set up a Facebook page to gather evidence and raise awareness. She also created a petition which garnered almost 7,500 signatures.

Around 17 people contacted Rebecca to say that they too had bought a puppy from Dorbin-Barnett believing him to be a private seller. Many of the puppies had developed serious health conditions such as kennel cough, pneumonia, parvovirus or heat defects, with owners spending thousands of pounds in vet bills. Some puppies weren’t microchipped, which is against the law, or hadn’t been vaccinated. All of the buyers had suffered huge financial loss and emotional turmoil.

In June 2018 Lincolnshire Live reported that Dorbin-Barnett had applied to East Lindsey District Council for a breeding licence but this was withdrawn after the council said work needed to be done at the premises to bring it up to scratch.

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Additional information

The ring-leader and public ‘face’ of the Lincolnshire puppy farm ring was Cameron Ian George Dorbin-Barnett, born 23 May 1993, and originally from Romford, east London.

The puppy farm was based at Jessamine House Farm, Westville Road, Thornton Le Fen, Lincolnshire LN4 4YJ

Dorbin-Barnett previously sold puppies in Norfolk where he held a council breeding licence. He surrendered this after leaving the county to move to Lincolnshire.

In June 2017 Cameron Dorbin-Barnett formed a limited company, Tarkas Jessamine Ltd, with co-director and boyfriend David Alfred Samuel Fleming aka David Saint Fleming, born 21 November 1990.

Following the unwanted TV exposure, the company ceased trading and was ultimately dissolved in June 2019. Another company, CDR Kennels Ltd, was formed in September 2018 in the pair’s name but it too ceased and was dissolved in March 2021.

As of May 2022, Cameron Dorbin-Barnett and David Fleming live together at Halfmark, Corsock, Castle Douglas, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland DG7 3DZ

Ronnie Hudgell is now apparently living in Wells, Somerset, where he has a smallholding. He has now taken to selling geese and hens but also advertises French bulldog puppies on Facebook from time to time.

Hudgell, who’s originally from London, was a manager of a notorious pet store, Catwalk Pets in Ilford.