CONVICTED (2018) | puppy farmer Leigh Hancock, born February 1984, of Old Dry Arch Cottages, Marstow, Ross-on-Wye HR9 6EQ – sold ‘conveyor belt’ Labrador, retriever and collie dogs from his puppy farm.
Hancock admitted nine trading standards false description offences between June 2016 and March 2017 by placing 60 advertisements which implied the pups he was selling were from a family home,
The puppy farmer, formerly of Rodley Road, Lydney, Gloucester, was turning out “conveyor belt puppies” who were in poor condition when he sold them.
His partner, Kerri Greenhorn, born 21 March 1980, of Northwood Close, Cinderford GL14 2QS, was prosecuted alongside Hancock but the outcome of the case against her isn’t known.
A mother-of-four named Jodie Pitt was also prosecuted after she sold puppies on Hancock’s behalf.
The court heard Hancock “blitzed” social media with adverts for Golden Retriever and Labrador puppies that were purportedly the result of ‘accidental pregnancies’ but were in fact from the puppy farm he ran from an adapted shed in the back of his former home in Lydney.
He would say the puppies were socialised with humans, children and other family pets when the reality was they were kept in cages in the shed.
Trading standards officers analysed a series of advertisements that Hancock placed under various pseudonyms.
Prosecutor Rosamund Rutter said: “A hundred adverts were associated with the defendant – and seven mobile numbers.”
Hancock used various email addresses including the name of one of his children on one email. This was ‘to avoid advertising platforms suspecting he was a trader rather than private seller.’
“When analysed it was noted they were worded in a strikingly similar manner, and contained similar grammatical errors,” the barrister said.
Ms Rutter told the judge of members of the public who were looking for family pets and were assured that was what they were buying.
She added that Hancock even told one couple he and his family were ‘heartbroken they had to give the puppy up.’
The offences dated between June 2016 and March 2017 but Ms Rutter told the court that the operation was running before then.
She described it as a “conveyor belt of puppies, in poor conditions”.
Hancock admitted placing 60 advertisements between July 2016 and March 2017 which implied the pups he was selling were from a family home.
He also admitted withdrawing £23,134.56 of ‘criminal property’ from his bank on March 29 2017 when authorities executed a search warrant at his address and he became aware they were there.
Recorder Ben Browne QC told the defendant the puppies were: “A very different proposition from what you advertised.”
“In each case the set up was to make it look like it was, but it was blatantly untrue.”
Sentencing | Nine months in jail. £1,800 in fines.
Update August 2020:
A confiscation order was made against Leigh Hancock for the £60,436.50 he made from the proceeds of his crimes.
Hancock will need to pay this back or face more jail time.
In court, Hancock’s lawyer, James Tucker, said the amount he owed was “a financial disaster for him”.
“This represents the selling of the family home,” he said. “Having got himself onto the property ladder he has now been reduced back down to ground level. The agreed figure has gone far beyond what he could refinance his property for. He has only a modest income as a gardener.”
Judge Ian Lawrie QC issued a confiscation order to Hancock giving him three months to sell his home and hand over the proceeds, warning him that if he defaulted on the payment by November 24, 2020 he would be jailed for two years.
A £1,800 fine imposed at an earlier hearing would be reduced to to £450 but Hancock was also ordered to pay a £140 victim surcharge.
Additional Information
Leigh Hancock has a gardening and landscaping business named Garden Master. Facebook group here.
Co-admins of the group are none other than Kerri Greenhorn and Jodie Pitt.