CONVICTED (2023) | Hammad Javaid, born October 1993, of 32 Charmfield Road, Aylesbury HP21 9QB,and Louise Chrystal Lane, born 12 February (tbc) of Upland Avenue, Chesham HP5 2EA – ran an illegal puppy farm and caused the deaths of several dogs.
Former couple Hammad Javaid and Louise Lane, who now goes by the name Chrystal O’Brien on Facebook, were convicted of numerous animal cruelty charges in relation to an illegal breeding operation located at a house in Bateman Drive, Aylesbury. Twenty-four bull-breed dogs and puppies were involved.
The pair’s offences included the docking of tails involving new-born puppies, not ensuring the animals’ welfare, and failing to obtain a license when selling dogs.
The court heard how the dogs lived in the same house, which was ‘covered in faeces, urine and maggots’. Others were kept in kennels in the property’s garden. Unattended, the dogs fought with each other, leading to the deaths of two of them.
Regular and constant ‘barking, snarling, yapping, and howling’ in the quiet Aylesbury neighbourhood led several members of the public to contact the police and the RSPCA.
Neither Javaid nor Lane lived at the Bateman Drive residence.
Distressing footage shown in the court revealed several animals were left alone for large periods and that the animals would ‘constantly fight each other’.
One video shows a dog lying dead in the back garden following a fight, while some other animals were eating his carcass.
Another dog would later succumb to her injuries in a separate fight, with one of their bodies being disposed of by being put in a bin bag.
In one of the videos the court witnessed, Javaid and Lane were seen trying to separate the fighting dogs by ‘swinging their legs’.
The council had warned Javaid, who had been selling puppies without a valid license between 2012 and 2020, that he needed to obtain such paperwork to which he responded by suggesting we would comply.
However, this never materialised and all the remaining bulldogs were seized from the property in September 2021.
Of the dogs rescued by the council, two were pregnant.
RSPCA investigators found that dogs had been intensively bred and subjected to repeated caesarean sections. There were several cases of dogs having two litters in less than a year.
Javaid admitted to his actions whilst Lane initially denied all wrongdoing and tried to distance herself from the crimes.
However, text messages between the two parties revealed that they were selling puppies for around £5,000 each with the money ‘being put into a Rangy’. This would later be revealed as a Range Rover that Lane drove to and from the property.
Javaid pleaded guilty to charges of unlicensed dog breeding, tail docking, three charges of causing unnecessary suffering and one charge of failing to ensure animal welfare, brought by Buckinghamshire Council. He also pleaded guilty to two further charges of causing unnecessary suffering brought by the RSPCA.
Lane pleaded guilty to charges of unlicensed dog breeding, two charges of causing unnecessary suffering and one charge of failing to ensure animal welfare, brought by Buckinghamshire Council.
The defence had argued in favour of a suspended sentence for both defendants on the grounds that the pair have two children, aged seven and five, and are both due to become parents with their new partners
They also claimed that they were both ‘contributing to society in positive ways’, with company director Javaid running an ironing business called the Ironing Board and a driving school called Revs Driving School. Lane is currently on maternity leave from a job in catering but plans to return.
Sentencing |
Javaid received a total sentence of 20 months’ imprisonment.
Lane was given a six month suspended sentence, together with 100 hours of community service and 25 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) days. She was also required to pay £500 towards the council’s costs in bringing the case.
Both have been banned from keeping dogs “in the future”.
CONVICTED (2023) | Hayley Smith, born c. 1986, of no fixed abode but most recently of Fairfields, Milton Keynes – caught on camera kicking and stamping on her dog.
Hayley Smith was caught beating and kicking her dog all over Milton Keynes
The RSPCA launched an investigation after footage of a black and white Staffordshire bull terrier being beaten in the city was sent to the charity. Inspectors linked it to reports of similar incidents taking place from the end of July 2022 in which a woman was seen hitting her dog.
A member of the public, who had recognised the defendant as living in a flat in the Fairfields area, took several pieces of video footage of her interaction with the canine. Some showed the dog being dragged along on a lead and appearing to be lame.
Another member of the public captured two pieces of video of the dog being attacked several times by a woman at a bus stop. It showed the dog being kicked in the chest and the chin and also stamped on before the woman lashed out so the dog’s head hit the frame of the bus stop.
On October 6, 2022, Smith was found by the police, who seized the dog, named Angel, and placed her in the care of the RSPCA.
A vet said in an expert report presented to a court said that he was satisfied that the dog had suffered on a number of occasions because of physical abuse, while she was not provided with any vet care for her lameness.
The expert said: “On the number of occasions that the dog was physically abused, she can be seen to be very passive and does not attempt to bite, escape or resist the abuse. The dog would have experienced pain as a result of the physical abuse. She was also observed to be lame on her front left leg.”
Smith pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
Angel was cruelly beaten on multiple occasions by Hayley Smith
Milton Keynes Magistrates’ Court was told she was “very remorseful” for abusing her dog. She was said to have suffered mental abuse from her former partner and was homeless, while she had also had problems with drug addiction.
Angel has spent time in a foster home since her ordeal and will be rehomed by the RSPCA.
Speaking after the sentencing, inspector Prisca Giddens said: “This poor dog was picked on relentlessly by the defendant and she must have been in fear of her all the time. Angel was cruelly beaten on multiple occasions, but without the help of the public we wouldn’t have been able to have prosecuted Smith as we eventually were able to link the assaults.
“We had so many calls from people who had witnessed the mistreatment of the dog over a period of months and we went to several different locations to try and track the defendant down. Angel is a sweetie, a really lovely dog who has been looked after by fosterers and now we will find her a loving new home.”
Sentencing | eight-week prison sentence suspended for 12 months; 25 rehabilitation activity days; court costs of £100 and victim surcharge of £114. Lifetime ban on keeping all animals.
CONVICTED (2023) | Tommy Lee Gray, born 11 July 2004, of 15 Weller Road, Amersham HP6 6LQ and Joseph Abercrombie, born 12 April 2003, of 1 Heartenoak Farm, Heartenoak Road, Hawkhurst, Cranbrook TN18 5EY – for hare coursing.
Tommy Lee Gray (left) and Joseph Abercrombie
Travellers Tommy Lee Gray, offspring of convicted horse abusers James and Julie Cordelia Gray previously of Spindles Farm, and Joseph Abercrombie, a professional boxer, were arrested in Essex by specialist rural engagement officers and subsequently convicted of trespassing with intent to search for, or to pursue, hares with dogs.
Both admitted the offence when they appeared before Basildon magistrates on 13 July 2023.
The court was told they had both travelled to Paglesham near Rochford on 6 January 2023, Gray from Buckinghamshire and Abercrombie from Kent.
They were spotted by members of the public trespassing on fields with two dogs and reported to Essex Police.
Officers from the Essex Police Rural Engagement Team and Rayleigh Local Policing Team attended and the pair were arrested and charged.
Magistrates told them they had travelled a great distance and the offence was ‘planned and deliberate’. They decided against banning either man from driving because it was their first offence and against disqualifying them from owning or keeping dogs because of their family circumstances.
Sgt Ben Felton, from the Rural Engagement Team, said: “Hare coursing causes landowners, farmers and the rural community a large amount of anxiety because of the damage caused to the land by trespassing.
“We won’t tolerate animal cruelty in any form and will seek to prosecute whenever we have evidence of such crimes because we understand the damage, its cost and the fear this cruel crime can cause in our more isolated communities.
“This prosecution is the first of its kind in Essex, and among the first in the country, and we won’t hesitate to use the legislation to prevent and deter people from poaching game in our county.
“The message is getting out that hare coursers are not welcome in Essex.
“During the 2022/23 season we reduced hare coursing incidents across the county by 50% working with the CPS, forces across the eastern region and Kent, with help from the National Police Air Service.
“We encourage anyone who sees hare coursing in action to call 999.”
Sentencing | fined £250 and ordered to pay £105 costs and a £100 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | travellers Martin McDonagh, born c. 1976, wife Mary McDonagh, born c. 1979, and their offspring Thomas McDonagh, born c. 1997, and Winifred McDonagh, born c. 2003, all of 5 Beechlands, Hazlemere, High Wycombe HP15 7FE- abused and neglected the puppies they illegally sold to the public.
Police officers attended a property in High Wycombe on July 29, 2021 and found a mix of 17 cocker spaniel and Cavalier King Charles spaniel puppies kept in crates and a van without a mother present.
They contacted the RSPCA for help and Special Operations Unit (SOU) officer Kirsty Withnall went to assist.
During the subsequent investigation police found adverts on Pets4Homes for cocker spaniels for sale at £1,300. The advert said the puppies were born to a ‘family pet’ and had been health-checked, vaccinated, and treated for fleas and worms. The advert said the puppies had been ‘raised in a busy household’.
Evidence suggested that Martin McDonagh had been trying to fraudulently sell the puppies as home-bred, despite them being sourced from elsewhere, possibly illegally imported from Ireland.
The council told investigators that the property did not have a licence for breeding or selling.
In June 2022, Martin McDonagh pleaded guilty to one offence of making false representations under The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. He was handed a seven month jail term and was disqualified from keeping dogs.
Further charges in relation to the abused dogs followed and in November 2022 all four McDonaghs were found guilty of failing to meet the needs of 17 puppies.
Martin McDonagh also admitted tying a cable tightly around an eight-week-old puppy’s neck, causing a painful injury.
Speaking outside of court, RSPCA Inspector Withnall said: “These puppies had been taken away from their mothers and moved to a strange location where they mixed with other puppies of differing ages. They were being kept in completely unsuitable conditions and one had a cable tie tight around his throat and had to be rushed to vets to have it removed.
“We know from evidence gathering that Martin McDonagh had been trying to sell the puppies but when police arrived at the property he was not present and the rest of his family were in charge of the dogs, who were in very poor conditions.
“Thankfully all of the puppies were removed, placed into foster homes and have since been rehomed, and are doing really well with their new families.”
Sentencing | Martin McDonagh: 12-month conditional discharge order, prosecution costs of £500, a victim surcharge cost of £22. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years. Mary McDonagh: £150 fine, £500 prosecution costs. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years. Thomas McDonagh: 50 hours of unpaid work, £500 prosecution costs, a £100 fine. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years apart from turtles. Winnie McDonagh: 12-month conditional discharge. Disqualified from keeping all animals for two years.
CONVICTED (2022) | Sharon Parker, born c. 1968, and son Justin Parker, born 2 April 1991, both of Hillway, Amersham HP7 0JL – left their cat in immense pain with an untreated broken leg.
Sharon and Justin Parker. Pictures: Facebook.
The pair failed to act properly when the cat, known as Mama, broke her leg in unexplained circumstances. Instead of taking her to the vet the pair forced her to suffer for several months.
Ultimately Mama’s leg had to be amputated due to the length of time she had been carrying the severe injury.
The Parkers were found “highly culpable” in relation to Mama’s suffering and had caused her a “high level” of harm during those months.
Both offenders pleaded guilty to a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Sentencing: 12-week jail term suspended for one year; £278 in costs. Banned from keeping or owning cats for three years (expires January 2025).
CONVICTED (2021) | puppy farm dealer Katie Louise Salmon, born 9 May 1985, previously of Kirkwood Grove, Middleton, Milton Keynes, but now living in Bournemouth* – supplied sick and dying puppies to members of the public.
Salmon was part of an international dog smuggling ring based in Milton Keynes.
Thirteen other people involved in the puppy farming operation, including several members of Irish traveller family, the Cawleys, were jailed in August 2021.
The court heard the mother-of-two had sold seriously ill dogs through the website Pets4Homes.
The dogs had come from members of the Cawley family and their home in Mullacreevie Park, County Armagh, Northern Ireland.
Prosecutor Hazel Stevens told the court how the RSPCA tracked down Salmon to her then address in Kirkwood Grove on Middleton after they linked her to numerous puppy sales online between July and November 2019.
One victim told the hearing how her Shih Tzu puppy named Barnaby that she brought from Salmon in October 2019 soon turned out to be desperately ill. She said: “After taking him to the vets for a check-up we realised that Barnaby was a lot younger than we had been informed and that he was extremely underweight and malnourished.
“Myself and my partner stayed up all night with Barnaby giving hourly food, fluids and medication.
“At 7.15am on October 24, 2019, we were awoken by the traumatic cries of our 11-year-old son who had been into our room and found Barnaby no longer breathing. Myself and my partner tried in vain to revive him while our children looked on, traumatised and heartbroken.”
The devastated owner, who was visibly upset as she sat in the public gallery of the court, heard statements from her children about how it had affected them.
Her six-year-old wrote: “I feel really sad that Barnaby died, and I feel angry at his old owners because they didn’t feed him and look after him like we did.
“I really miss Barnaby and wish he was still at home with us, I just want Barnaby back.”
Defending Salmon, Nicola Talbot-Hadley told the court that she had recently escaped from a long term abusive relationship and that she had been manipulated by Joseph and Margaret Cawley into selling the dogs.
However, sentencing her Judge Sheridan said: “I have not seen any evidence that she was exploited, they were all in this together. This was well organised and brilliantly executed.
“They were trading in misery.”
The judge added: “The harm that this has caused is enormous and it is not limited to adults. There were children who were looking forward to welcoming a new member of their family.
“The British people would expect a sentence of immediate custody, to give the message that if you get involved in this filthy, horribly mean trade, you should expect a custodial sentence.”
Salmon admitted one count of conspiracy to commit fraud as well as a number of other charges under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and breaching her bail conditions.
Sentencing: jailed for 15 months and banned from keeping animals for the rest of her life.
*Updated address:
Lorne Park Mansions 33 Lorne Park Road BOURNEMOUTH BH1 1JL
CONVICTED (2021) | hare coursers Thomas Joseph Connors, born February 1978, of Carew Road, Wallington, Sutton SM6, Patrick Rooney, born c. 1985, of Croydon Road, Keston, Bromley BR2, Anthony Connors, born 31 January 1987, of Rutland Avenue, High Wycombe HP12, and James Raymond Bell, born October 2000, of Oaksview Park, 12 Murcott, Kidlington, Oxfordshire OX5 2RH
Thomas Connors, James Bell, Anthony Connors and Patrick Rooney all received fines and Criminal Behaviour Orders.
Officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s Rural Crime Action Team (RCAT) caught the four men, who were also with a 12-year-old boy, driving through a field in Abbots Ripton, Cambridgeshire, looking for hares.
James Bell
On seeing the police, the group drove off through wildlife conservation areas and, after a short pursuit through the village, drove onto another field before stopping.
All four were interviewed and previous poaching convictions were revealed.
The vehicle was seized and the men were ordered to leave the county.
Anthony Connors
They all pleaded guilty to daytime trespass in pursuit of game (poaching) at Cambridge Magistrates’ Court on September 22, 2021, and were each handed a Criminal Behaviour Order (CBO) lasting three years.
The order prevents them from (while in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex):
being on private agricultural or farm land, or any yards or working areas associated with that land, in or on any vehicle, or on foot whilst in possession of one or more sight hound or x-sight hound breed, unless the land owner’s written permission has been obtained beforehand
Jim Bell (left) and Anthony Connors (right)
All four were also ordered to pay £178 in compensation to the owner of the fields and wildlife conservation areas.
In addition, Thomas Connors was fined £150, while Anthony Connors, Rooney and Bell were fined £200.
CONVICTED (2021) Deborah ‘Debs’ Thomas of 3 Daisy Bank, Akeley, Buckingham MK18 5HW – caught on camera physically abusing a dog.
Ill-tempered Thomas, owner of a dog-walking business Doggy Day Care Akeley, was filmed rushing into her garden to berate a terrified rescue dog. She is shown picking the dog up and throwing him, causing him to slam onto the concrete ground. The matter was reported to the RSPCA by a concerned neighbour and Thomas was prosecuted.
On 17 September 2021 she was found guilty of two offences of duty of person responsible for animal to ensure welfare.
For the first offence she received a fine of £300, victim surcharge £34 and costs of £250.
The second offence was marked as ‘no separate penalty’.
She was not given a ban and it is not known if the dog she abused was returned to her.
CONVICTED | Conrad Choy Mills, born 16 April 1976, of 53 Angus Drive, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7ND – failed to treat his dog’s unexplained severe burn injuries
Company director Mills, who according to Companies House is a Jamaican national, was found to have caused unnecessary suffering to a male mastiff dog called Sampson by failing to get his wounds treated properly by a vet.
The cause of the dog’s injuries remain unexplained and it’s not known if he survived his ordeal.
The court heart how between December 26, 2019 and January 7, 2020, in Bletchley, Mills failed to get Sampson treatment for severe burns he had suffered, despite knowing how this could negatively affect the dog’s health.
Mills had denied wrongdoing, but the magistrates thought otherwise and found him guilty.
Sentencing: three-year conditional discharge; £371 costs. Banned from keeping any animals for 10 years (expires August 2031).
CONVICTED (2021) | Margaret Cawley, husband John Cawley, Joseph Cawley Senior, Joseph Cawley Junior, Michael Cawley, Annalise Cawley, John O’Brien and wife Mary O’Brien, Daniel and James Yeboah, Mary Ward, Austin Paice and Rebecca Hall – imported and sold sick puppies across Buckinghamshire.
Members of an international puppy farming gang based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, were jailed for a total of more than 18 years after masterminding a large operation to traffic sick puppies into the UK from southern Ireland to be sold on to the public.
Annalise Cawley with her father Joseph Cawley Senior
In total, thirteen people appeared at Aylesbury Crown Court for sentencing. These included several members of Irish traveller family the Cawleys, who originate from Mullacreevie Park, County Armagh.
Joseph John Cawley a/a Joseph Cawley Junior
Ten of the defendants pleaded guilty to fraud and nine of those also admitted animal welfare offences, and a further three pleading guilty to animal welfare offences.
John Christopher Cawley with Kathleen Cawley (the latter wasn’t prosecuted).
Seven were handed immediate jail terms totalling more than 18 years; the longest combined prison sentences an RSPCA investigation has ever seen.
Lead RSPCA investigator Michelle Hare said the prosecution followed “a large multi-agency investigation into a sophisticated and complex puppy farming ring in the Milton Keynes area”.
She added: “This operation was led by the Cawley family who were illegally breeding and importing puppies to supply to third parties – or frontmen – to be sold to unsuspecting members of the public on their behalf.
“Dogs were kept in poor conditions in lorry containers and the backs of vans and were often riddled with health problems but were sold to innocent families who were hoping to add a dog to their homes but were, instead, left with staggering vet bills, dogs with complicated needs and, for some, the heartache of losing their puppy.”
Between June and November 2019, the RSPCA and Trading Standards received a large number of complaints about the sale of puppies from different addresses in the Milton Keynes area.
The gang would smuggle several dogs into the UK from southern Ireland a day and then kept them in atrocious conditions.
Some of them had become sick and others had undisclosed health issues.
Three of the puppies died and many had been sold with fraudulent vaccination cards.
Initially these cases were investigated in isolation but, as statements were gathered, it became apparent that the addresses were linked and the RSPCA joined up with Milton Keynes Council’s Trading Standards department to investigate.
Brother and sister Joseph Cawley Junior and Annalise Cawley
In March 2020, RSPCA officers joined Thames Valley Police as they executed warrants at six addresses, one storage unit and a number of unregistered vehicles at the Willen Road travellers’ site in Newport Pagnell and Avon House in Bletchley, Milton Keynes.
Police seized 54 dogs including cocker spaniels, schnauzers, chihuahuas, springer spaniels, Labradors, beagles and poodles.
In her witness statement, Inspector Hare said:
“As I made my way onto the site it was clear that there were a very large number of dogs and puppies present. Other than a couple of dogs running loose on site, the rest were all being housed in lorry bodies and storage containers situated on the site.
“Some of the dogs had untreated health problems and conditions including fur loss, ear infections and dental disease, and they were all being kept in wholly inappropriate environments.
Annalise Cawley with husband Patrick Cawley. The latter was not prosecuted.
“The trailers had been split into pens and all of the dogs were being kept in poor conditions. The kennels were dirty and smelt strongly of ammonia, while one of the pens was full of hazards including nails sticking out, sharp metal mesh and wires hanging down. There were holes in the walls and floor that appeared to have been caused by the dogs trying to chew out of the space.
“We removed four pregnant bitches and a poodle cross who had recently given birth, along with five poodle cross puppies who were just 48-hours-old. Police seized a total of 51 dogs and a further four litters of puppies were born in our care.”
Officers found empty vaccination vials and needles, alongside flea and worming products, a stack of blank vaccination sheets which matched those the victims had been given when they purchased puppies from the associated addresses.
Interviews were conducted with members of the Cawley family – who admitted ownership of some dogs but claimed they didn’t know who owned others – and with the ‘frontmen’: Yeboah, John and Mary O’Brien, Hall and Paice.
Annalise Cawley with husband Patrick Cawley
A separate investigation had been carried out following the sale of puppies from another second property in Milton Keynes. But it was soon linked with this investigation – named Operation Sandpiper – when CCTV footage was obtained showing a man, identified as John Christopher Cawley from Willen Road, delivering puppies.
A second vehicle – a red van recorded as travelling on a ferry from Belfast to Liverpool on 29 October 2019 with passengers listed under the Cawley name – was also seen delivering puppies to this property and later returned from Holyhead to Dublin on 13 November. The contact number provided by the passengers matched the number used to advertise three litters of puppies online.
A witness went to view a Dalmatian puppy at the address after an online advert was posted; it explained the puppy was being rehomed as it was being bullied by their other dog, a pug. The same seller had also advertised a Labrador puppy, photos of which appear to have been taken in the wash house.
Another witness attended Whaddon Way, Milton Keynes, in October 2019, responding to an advert for cocker spaniel puppies. She didn’t buy the puppy from the seller – believed to be Daniel Yeboah – as it looked unwell.
She went back onto Pets 4 Homes and found another advert with the same photos but a different listed seller.
When she contacted the seller she claimed that she was having to rehome the puppy as it was being bullied by her pug.
Austin Paice
The RSPCA gathered further intelligence in October 2020 that puppies were being imported from Ireland, housed on a travellers’ site and sold online, and the adverts were linked to Michael Cawley.
On 4 November 2020, Thames Valley Police contacted the charity after an officer attended Willen Road and found puppies there. Inspector Hare attended to meet police at the scene and found a collie bitch, a cocker spaniel bitch, a 12-week-old cocker spaniel puppy, and three six-week-old spaniel cross pups on site.
Inspector Hare said: “The three youngest pups were in a dark, cold pen and they couldn’t see anything but four solid walls. The water was dirty and the bedding smelled strongly of urine. The environment was totally unsuitable.”
“Joseph Cawley Snr, who was on scene, said his cousin owned the puppies. I told him I’d be removing them and asked for the owner’s details but he refused to give them to me. Police seized the puppies. They had brown discharge in their ears, nasty infections and bloated abdomens.”
Details of convictions/sentencing:
• Annalise Cawley, born 23/03/1999, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received a 12-month prison sentence suspended for two years and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• John Christopher Cawley, born 18/08/1996, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three -and-a-half years in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Joseph Cawley Senior, born 10/02/1977, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three years and nine months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Joseph John Cawley, born 04/12/2002, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received a 24-month community order with 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days, 150 hours of unpaid work and a 10 -year disqualification order on all animals;
• Margaret Cawley, born 01/11/1974, of Willen Road travellers site, Newport Pagnell MK16 0QE pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received three years and nine months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Michael Cawley, born 17/07/1980, of 20 Reeves Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DA pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received two years and three months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• Rebecca Elizabeth Lorraine Hall, born 13/12/1990, of 8 Shepherds, Fullers Slade, Milton Keynes MK11 2BH pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received four months suspended for two years, £750 compensation and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• John Paul O’Brien, born 29/09/1971, of 11 Grangers Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6D pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received 13 months in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• Wendy Jane Ann O’Brien, born 04/04/1989, of 11 Grangers Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DA pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received three months suspended for two years, three-month curfew order, £1,000 compensation and a 10-year disqualification order on dogs;
• Austin Charles Paice, born 12/12/1986, of 126 Whaddon Way, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7DQ (has an alternative address at 25 Orchard House, Green Lane, Wolverton, Milton Keynes MK12 5EZ pleaded guilty to fraud and received a 13-month prison sentence. Animal welfare offences have been remitted back to the magistrates’ court;
• Mary Ward aka Mary Ward-Jackson or Mary Johnston , born 25/10/1989, of 20 Reeves Croft, Hodge Lea, Milton Keynes MK12 6DB pleaded guilty to animal welfare act offences and received three months suspended for two years, 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals;
• James Yeboah , born 27/08/1977, of 98 Avon House, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7BS pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare act offences and received nine months suspended for two years, 150 hours of unpaid work, £1,000 costs and compensation, and a 10 year disqualification order;
• Daniel Yeboah, born 13/06/1976, also of 98 Avon House, Bletchley, Milton Keynes MK3 7BS pleaded guilty to fraud and animal welfare offences and received three and a half years in prison and a 10-year disqualification order on all animals.
The court also issued destruction orders for 10 seized mobile phones and forfeited £16,000 of seized cash which will be distributed to the victims.
Costs of £100,357.63 were awarded to the RSPCA.
All of the dogs were cared for by the RSPCA and in foster homes and can now all be rehomed.
Joseph Cawley Jr and Sr
After the two-day sentencing hearing, Judge Francis Sheridan said: ‘Not one of the defendants in this case should ever be given a licence to breed animals.
‘The effects referred to in this case cannot be regarded by the public as anything other than utterly abhorrent.
‘This is a trade in cruelty and misery for the animals and the human beings who sought to buy them. The protection of the public must be foremost in my mind.
‘This is a massive industry and that is all it is, an industry of misery.’
The judge also warned consumers to take care when they bought dogs from the website Pets4Homes, which had been used to facilitate the sale of many of the scammers’ puppies.
