CONVICTED (2023) | Daniel Banham, born 6 September 1999, of Carters Hill Park traveller site, Carters Hill, Billingbear, Wokingham RG40 5QL – left his horse to suffer with a painful untreated skin condition.
Daniel Banham received a suspended prison sentence and eight-year ban on keeping horses following his mistreatment of an unnamed colt
Banham, a traveller, was visited by the RSPCA after calls of concern over a young horse in Fordingbridge in Hampshire who had severe skin lesions over his body. The lesions were crusty, the skin was dry, red and painful.
The horse was signed over to the RSPCA and can now be rehomed following his recovery
A vet carried out an examination of the unnamed horse and found him to be in a suffering state.
Banham was asked about the skin condition and said he thought it was rain scald so had used coconut oil on the lesions.
In their report, the vet said: “This horse was suffering from the consequences of inadequate management. The poor management led to dehydration, malnutrition, painful skin condition and severe liver disease that can have life-threatening consequences.
“He failed in his duty by failing to seek veterinary help for his horse’s very obvious and severe skin condition and concerning weight loss.
“Added to this his choice to apply coconut oil to his skin significantly increased this animal’s pain and suffering by conducting and amplifying the sun’s heat onto his severely damaged skin.”
RSPCA Inspector Tina Ward, who investigated for the animal welfare charity, said: “Our plea to all animal owners is to make sure they always receive care and treatment from veterinary experts when they need it.
“They are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met and they are kept safe and healthy.
“Owning an animal is a privilege – and ensuring appropriate veterinary care is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them. It’s so sad that, in this instance, that responsibility was not met.”
The horse was also signed over into the care of the RSPCA and can now be rehomed.
Sentencing | eight-week custodial suspended for 12 months; 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days; £300 costs and £154 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping horses for eight years.
CONVICTED (2022) | Matt Wilkie, born 2 September 1977, of Liscombe, Bracknell RG12 7BY – punched a police dog in the head.
Matt Wilkie was convicted of punching a police dog in the head.
Wilkie denied causing unnecessary suffering to an animal during an incident in Windmill Road, Bracknell, on February 27, 2021 but was found guilty after a trial.
He admitted a range of driving offences on the same date.
Sentencing | community order with up to 19 days of rehabilitation activities. Ordered to pay £395 in costs and charges.
CONVICTED (2022) | Arshad Khaliq, born January 1972, of 23 Martin Road, Slough SL1 2NA – kept a dog in unsuitable conditions in an overgrown garden.
Khaliq, a restaurateur, was convicted under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 following a prosecution by Slough Borough Council.
A property search on Upton Court Road was made on May 22, 2019, after concerns were raised for a Mastiff-type dogs’ welfare.
The council’s resilience and enforcement officers and Thames Valley Police entered the property and found the conditions the dog was being kept in breach of Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006, which was the duty of care to ensure welfare.
The male dog, called Skrappa, was taken by the council who sought permanent possession via Reading Magistrates’ Court.
This was granted on June 28, 2019, and Skrappa is now in a loving home with someone who can meet his needs.
Sentencing: 250 hours of unpaid work, 10 days of rehabilitation. Council awarded full costs. Banned from keeping, owning, or dealing in animals indefinitely and can’t appeal for the ban to be lifted for 10 years.
#MostEvil | Joshua James Sharp, born 11 October 1996, of 28 Delane Drive, Winnersh, Wokingham RG41 5AT – battered a kitten and a puppy to death.
Jealous boyfriend Josh Sharp and his victims Peppa and Stark
Sadistic Sharp, who already has a lengthy criminal record, was convicted in relation to the violent deaths of two much-loved family pets: a four-month-old Sphynx kitten named Peppa and a Dachsund-type puppy known as Stark. The pets, who died within a couple of months of each other, were each owned by women Sharp had been dating.
Both women described Sharp as a controlling boyfriend who showed glimpses of jealousy towards their pets.
Peppa, who had previously been a healthy and contented kitten, died at an emergency vet a short time after being found by his horrified owner, Susannah, unconscious on her bed with blood pouring from his nose and mouth. He had also lost control of his bowels. Sharp, who was present at the time, claimed he had seen Susannah’s dog swipe the kitten with his paw during a scuffle, but the vet said the blunt-force trauma to Peppa’s head wasn’t consistent with this account.
Sharp persuaded Susannah to bury Peppa’s body but her suspicions grew after he told her how an ex-girlfriend’s puppy, Stark the Dachshund, had died, he claimed, from an allergic reaction to vaccinations.
Turning detective, Susannah tracked the ex down via Facebook. The woman confirmed that Stark had also died in mysterious circumstances after being with Sharp. She described how she had found her puppy on his side, dry-retching and gasping for breath. He passed away a short time later. She’d had her suspicions that Sharp had killed her pet, as the pup had always seemed nervous around him, but was unable to prove it and the two split up a short time later.
While still doubting that Sharp could be capable of such evil, Susannah needed answers and decided to dig up Peppa’s remains and arrange for a post-mortem. This confirmed the cause of death to be a fractured skull and brain haemorrhage.
Susannah believes Sharp used a phone to batter Peppa over the head.
The RSPCA was alerted and, following an investigation, Sharp was charged with animal cruelty.
Susannah suspects that Sharp’s motive for killing the pets was jealousy. She described how he would often complain that her dog got in the way of her cuddling him. She added: “He seemed to hate any attention being taken away from him. Whenever he was around, the animals acted strangely but he just kept repeating that he was an animal lover. “
At a sentencing hearing on Friday, March 4, 2022, Sharp was handed a 24-week prison sentence suspended for 22 months. He was ordered to carry out 180 hours of unpaid work and 40 days of rehabilitation. He was given an order stating that he can’t own, be in possession, handle or be left unattended with any animal for 10 years.
Susannah took to Facebook to express her frustration at the sentencing and anger at Sharp’s sickening animal cruelty. She wrote:
You may have escaped prison. But you haven’t escaped what this evil world will bring to you, and show you what you really deserve after being found guilty on killing two baby animals. You could have got a year behind bars, but in my eyes you got more. You can’t be protected in segregation out here Josh Sharpe.
‘You have severe mental and behavioural issues, and because of that you’ll do 40 days in rehab’ says the judge. After 40 days probation will see you need 40 years, not days.
£500 compensation which I don’t even want doesn’t bring my animal back or covers the emotions me and my kids had to deal with.
You’ve been recognised,
Your sick self is in the public eye and there’s no escaping what you did to these baby animals.
Losing a pet is hard but knowing it endured such a painful death is something that makes my heart hurt. No animal deserves to be hurt, especially tortured and killed. You’ve shown no remorse and you never will because you’re a sick sick human being and everything that comes your way you deserve, and more.
As the judge said herself people like you go on to harm humans and I pray that no individual has to experience what your sick hands are capable of.
I don’t really understand why she didn’t send you down. The only thing I can think of she’s recognised how much help you actually need, and realised rehabilitation will hopefully help you more in the long run so you don’t destroy any more lives – animals or humans. You’ll always be known as someone who abuses and kills animals, and you’ll never escape that.
You’re the lowest of the low.
You may not have harmed the 5 dogs your parents owned but trust me they won’t keep your name clean forever.
You can’t brainwash people you’re an animal lover forever and justice will be served.
CONVICTED (2022) | serial offenders Rajeshwari Cameron, born c. 1965, and her husband Adrian Cameron, born c. 1959, of Northampton Place, Northampton Avenue, Slough SL1 3FT – caught breaking a banning order imposed in June 2009.
Serial dog abusers Adrian and Rajeshwari Cameron. Please note, these photos are old.
The Camerons were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to their pet dog Lucy in June 2009 following an RSPCA prosecution. They were banned under section 34 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 from owning or having any control of an animal for 10 years.
However, in September 2020, Slough Borough Council (SBC) officers investigated the couple – by now living Reddington Drive – in relation to complaints the local authority had received about the care and treatment of their then current dog, Lila.
As a result of the investigation, SBC became aware and confirmed via witness statements and veterinary records that Mr and Mrs Cameron had owned at least two other dogs during the period of the ban they had received in 2009.
Between March 2018 and June 2019, the pair had owned a dog named Latte who was put to sleep by a vet for undetermined causes, and a dog named Archie, who they subsequently sold.
Ownership of both these dogs during this period breached the ban imposed on them in 2009.
The pair pleaded guilty to two charges each of breaching a disqualification order relating to Latte and Archie contrary to section 34(9) of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
During sentencing, the district judge stated that he was satisfied that both Mr and Mrs Cameron fully understood the terms of their original 2009 ban, and that both had control and responsibility for the dogs during the period they were banned from owning or having control of animals.
The judge also gave acknowledgement for their guilty plea.
Lila has been safely rehomed after being in the care of the council since September 2020.
Sentencing: three-year conditional discharge. Ordered to pay a total of £160 each. Banned from keeping any animals for eight years.
CONVICTED (2021) | backyard breeder James Jason Haydon, born 6 November 1998, previously of Mount Park, Higher Bebington, Wirral and now Island Road, Reading RG2 0RP – sold sick puppies on Facebook and kept dogs in a cupboard under the stairs.
James Joseph Haydon, who now lives in Reading in Berkshire, kept 11 dogs and puppies, some of which were living in crates filled with faeces and urine.
Haydon pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
The case against Haydon’s partner Kirsty Jayne Burke, who appeared in court alongside him, appears to have been discontinued.
RSPCA officers were called to an address in Higher Bebington in December 2019 and January 2020 after concerns were raised by members of the public about skinny dogs. Officers were concerned about their weight and the conditions they were living in so left an improvement notice.
The court heard how inspector Naomi Norris was called to a local kennels a few weeks later to see a dog called Freyer who had been handed over by Haydon.
Six dogs were kept in two pens in the garden, where they were “walking in faeces”.
Naomi said: “She was very thin and had saggy teets that still contained milk. It appeared as though she’d recently had puppies and I was concerned for their welfare. “I returned to the house two days later to follow up on the improvement notice. Haydon shouted out of a window, became aggressive and refused us access to the dogs.”
On February 5, 2020, Naomi and her colleagues joined police as they executed a warrant at the address. Naomi said: “In a cupboard under the stairs in the hall we found four six-week-old puppies. “I could see their ribs and spine and the vet said they needed to come out as soon as possible.
“They were on a cold floor with no bedding, no light and no ventilation.
“There was a large fawn-coloured dog in a small cage in the lounge. He had no bedding, food or water and the cage was far too small for him.
One dog was found in a crate so small he was unable to turn around in it.
“Outside, there were six large dogs in two runs in the garden. They all looked thin and the runs were thick with faeces.
“As the dogs were moving around the faeces was splashing up into the air. There were upturned buckets but no water available to them.
“These dogs appeared to have deteriorated since the last time I had seen them through the gate on January 3 and I was immediately concerned about them.
“While we were outside I heard a male voice shouting aggressively at something inside. I went into the kitchen but the police were in control, as far as I could see.
Many of the dogs appeared to be dehydrated and two were considered seriously underweight.
“An officer said Haydon had shouted at the dog in the cage in the lounge, Aries, and the dog had cowered in response and defecated. At that point I looked through the serving hatch and noticed a hammer hanging next to the cage.”
Some of the dogs had cropped ears and docked tails and another, Storm, had a swollen untreated wound to his led and was found wearing a shock collar, which was removed by officers. Eleven dogs and puppies – all cane corso types – were seized by police and taken into RSPCA care.
The adult dogs – Aries, Winter, Brille, Artemis (female), Diosa, Storm and Akhira (or Hera) – were all taken into the charity’s rescue centres.
The puppies Deloris, Ginny, Hermione and Luna – named after Harry Potter characters having been found in a cupboard under the stairs – were all rehomed by one of the charity’s branches. Haydon said Storm and Artemis belonged to two other individuals, one of whom confirmed that he’d been looking after his dog while his child was in hospital.
The dogs were signed over for rehoming but, sadly, Artemis was put to sleep on medical grounds due to serious health problems. Storm and Hera were rehomed together where they’re getting on really well with their new family.
Aries (now renamed Acer), Brille (now called Lola), Diosa (now called Callie) and Winter (now Roxy) also all found loving new homes.
The dogs, who all have new names, spent a year in the charity’s care before being signed over for rehoming. Callie and Lola were more nervous and wary of people, possibly as a result of their cropped ears and docked tails, and Acer and Roxy were more confident.
Haydon was also sentenced for three offences relating to a Cane Corso puppy, called Max, who was sold to a member of the public in September 2020 and was so poorly he had to be put to sleep.
The court heard how Andrew and Samantha Hood saw two Cane Corso puppies, Max and another dog named Storm, advertised on Facebook and paid £1,800 for both.
Haydon and a woman drove to the North East to take the puppies to the new owners and when they met he provided some registration documents.
Mr Mitchell said they noticed Storm had a mark on her head and some fur had fallen out, and Haydon claimed she had been bitten and had an abscess, handing them coconut oil to treat it.
He said the puppies were put in a crate and immediately suffered diarrhoea and Max appeared “in pain”.
They took him to a vet who discovered the puppy weighed just 1.9 kilograms when he should have weighed between eight and nine, and had “severely reduced muscle mass”.
Max also had multiple sores on his left ear and infected cuts and all four of paws had infections, which a vet said was as a result of “poor living conditions”.
Mr Mitchell said: “[The vet] felt the only available option was to euthanise that particular puppy.”
Sarah Griffin, defending, said Haydon “did the best he could” and had moved to a larger home “at great expense to himself” in efforts to care for the dogs.
She said he had “overcommitted himself financially” and as a result compromised the health of the dogs.
Ms Griffin said Haydon was £25,000 in debt and a “significant portion” was from trying to improve living conditions for the animals and added they weren’t “totally neglected” as he attempted to look after them.
She said after he pleaded guilty to the offences he signed the animals over to a charity.
Ms Griffin said Haydon has made “positive changes” and is “doing well” with the requirements of a current suspended sentence, which he received for the cultivation of cannabis.
She said he had an “incredibly difficult background”, had made an attempt on his life and has been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome.
The court heard he has casual employment as a mechanic and lives with his partner, who is pregnant.
Sentencing: 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; 30 days of rehabilitation activity and thinking skills; £250 in costs. Disqualified from keeping all animals for five years (expires August 2026).
CONVICTED (2021) | Donna Marie Midwinter. born 1976, of 55 Cresswell Road, Newbury RG14 2PQ – for the mistreatment of a border collie.
Midwinter was found to have neglected her pet dog from between December 2019 and January 2020.
According to a court list, the black-and-white collie was discovered with pressure sores and urine scalds.
The RSPCA brought Midwinter to court in November 2020 where she pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing unnecessary suffering to the animal.
But in May 2021 she was found guilty of the offence.
Two months later, on Friday, July 23, she was sentenced at Reading Magistrates’ Court.
Here, she was told to take part in up to 15 rehabilitation activity days, carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and pay costs of £500. It appears that she was not banned from owning animals.
CONVICTED (2020) | hare coursers Kevin Hall, born c. 2001, of Odencroft Road, Slough SL2, and Robert John Smith, born August 2001, of Rose Cottage, Foundry Lane, Horton, Slough SL3 9PD
Kevin Hall (left) and Robert Smith
Serial wildlife killers Kevin Hall and Robert Smith, who are gypsies, were seen driving a green Suzuki Vitara in Longstowe, South Cambridgeshire, with two sight hounds, in July 2019.
They were dispersed from the county for 48 hours but later spotted by a member of the public walking the dogs in a field with no right of way in Longstowe.
Robert Smith
The pair were originally sentenced in December 2019 but appealed. Hall went on to withdraw his appeal in November 2020 and Smith was found guilty on December 17, 2020.
They were given £240 fines for daytime trespass in pursuit of game and failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.
Kevin Hall
Detective Constable Tom Nuttall, from the forces Rural Crime Action Team, said: “Our message is simple – don’t come coursing in Cambridgeshire.
“Driving hare coursing out of the county is a priority for our team and we will continue to use all of our powers to bring coursers to justice.”
Kevin Hall also runs a roofing business. His trading name is Weatherseal Roofing Specialists.
The barbaric twosome’s Facebook profiles contain images and videos of them injuring and killing wild animals both with dogs and weapons such as catapults.
CONVICTED (2019) | Robert A Black, born 29/08/1968, of Parsons Close, Newbury RG14 5LU – captured on CCTV punching his dog repeatedly.
Career criminal Robert Black, who has multiple previous convictions for shoplifting, was found guilty of one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal after CCTV caught him punching his dog five times.
In the video Black can be seen viciously attacking the animal in Victoria Park in Newbury.
After he struck the dog five times in the face, he put the dog on a lead and walked off through the park.
Police were called and arrested Black.
They also took both his dogs under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. Both have since been rehomed. The animal he punched was not injured in the attack.
Investigating officer, PC David Burleigh said: “Black demonstrated significant cruelty to his dog by punching it several times in the face, with no concern for its welfare.
“This behaviour is clearly totally unacceptable for a pet owner and I am pleased that not only has he received a prison sentence for his actions, but that he has been banned from owning animals for the next 10 years.
“We take reports such as these seriously and will look to investigate and take action against anyone who carries out this type of offence.”
Sentencing: jailed for 22 weeks; ordered to pay a £115 victim surcharge. Banned from owning animals for 10 years (expires November 2029).
KentLive reports that Black’s custodial sentence has been reduced to just 17 weeks following an appeal.
Black’s lawyer, Steve Molloy of Charles Hoile Solicitors in Newburym argued that his client’s behaviour “was his rather clumsy attempt to separate [the dogs] adding that: “There’s no suggestion the dogs were undernourished or routinely ill-treated. This was, in my submission, a one-off incident. It’s not in the league of dogfighting or dog baiting.”
He suggested the district judge who sentenced Black had erred in law by categorising the offence as “higher culpability”.
Molloy conceded that his client had been subject to a suspended prison sentence at the time, but said this was for a totally unrelated offence.
He concluded: “Mr Black has now served a custodial sentence of some weeks and, in my respectful submission, the proper sentence would be one of time served.”
That would have allowed Black to walk free and spend Christmas with his partner, who accompanied him to court.
But Judge Richard Wheeler pointed to Black’s 288 previous convictions for offences including battery, burglary, theft and being drunk and disorderly.
He said Black’s actions had breached the terms of a suspended prison sentence order.
Judge Wheeler added: “I’m perfectly satisfied it was correct in law to activate the five-week suspended sentence and to add a consecutive sentence for the current offence.”
He told Black: “You committed this offence less than a month after the suspended sentence and you have a lengthy and extremely depressing record.
“But I’m persuaded to allow the appeal to this extent: while the five blows can be characterised as a deliberate and gratuitous attempt to cause harm to the dog, it was lesser harm, not greater harm. There was no prolonged suffering.”
The judge ruled that 12 weeks’ imprisonment, rather than 18, should have been added consecutively to the five-week suspended sentence, reducing the total to 17 weeks rather than 22.
CONVICTED (2019) | backyard breeders Jason Coates, born c. 1975, Cherylea Coates born c. 1979, and Albert Coates, born 11 September 1988, all of Moreland Avenue, Colnbrook, Slough SL3 0LR – for shocking cruelty to the dogs and puppies in their care.
L-R Albert Coates, Cherylea Coates, Jason Coates
The Coates family, who are from the settled travelling community and run a skip-hire business, kept five dogs and two puppies in unsuitable conditions. The trio were prosecuted following a warrant executed at their home by Slough Borough Council’s resilience and enforcement team.
Neighbours had raised the alarm after hearing continuous barking and noticing the dogs were never taken out for exercise.
The luckier animals were rescued in time, but others had already died due to the Coates’ neglect
Officers visited the family’s home in Moreland Avenue in December 2018 and found a shed in the front garden and two cages in the back garden.
One cage was home to two Jack Russell puppies and their mother who belonged to Albert Coates.
It was believed three puppies had already died and the surviving young dogs had to make do with unsuitable bedding and a lack of blankets in wintry conditions.
Their food and water was also found to be contaminated.
A Jack Russell cross Chihuahua, a Chihuahua and two Cocker Spaniels belonging to Jason and Cherylea Coates were also discovered.
The couple contested surrendering the animals and a court order had to be obtained while their nephew voluntarily surrendered his dogs to the care of the council.
All the dogs have since been rehomed and nursed back to health.
The trio appeared for sentencing at Reading Magistrates Court on Friday, August 9, 2019, after each admitted a charge of neglect under Section 9 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Albert Coates admitted an additional charge of causing unnecessary suffering under section 4 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
All offences took place on December 18, 2018.
Sentencing: all were ordered to pay a total of £400 in fines, costs and charges and were disqualified from owning or keeping an animal for a minimum of two years (possibly expired).
