CONVICTED (2024) | Collette Carre, born c. 1966, of Acacia Grove, March PE15 8HY – failed to treat a greyhound gravely ill with a 14cm tumour that covered her snout and muzzle.
Cruel and vile Collette Carre said that financial difficulties and mental health problems prevented her from taking her dying dog to a vet
Carre pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the female greyhound type dog called Defa by failing to seek prompt veterinary care for the grapefruit-sized tumorous mass on her snout/muzzle, as well as weight loss and her poor bodily condition.
The RSPCA was alerted after Carre attended a veterinary practice to have the dog put to sleep.
Carre turned a blind eye to the suffering of emaciated Defa who had a huge tumour on her snout
A vet who examined Defa said in a statement that she was emaciated and had a large putrefying and necrosing tumour over her upper jaw obliterating the nostrils and there was an overpowering smell of rotting flesh and purulent discharge.
This would affect the dog’s ability to eat, drink and pant.
The examination found that she was dehydrated and hungry but was unable to eat and drink. The vet said the tumour would have been incredibly painful and estimated that she had been left to suffer for at least two months.
RSPCA Inspector Jon Knight said after the case: “We as pet owners have a responsibility to do the right thing for our animals – sadly this was not the case for poor Defa.
“It would not take any medical or veterinary expertise to see Defa was suffering and should have been taken to a vet sooner.”
In mitigation, the defendant said it was a result of mental health issues and financial difficulties.
Sentencing | 15-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; community order with mental health treatment requirement and rehabilitation activity; £187 victim surcharge. Lifetime ban on keeping all animals.
CONVICTED (2023) | hare coursing gang members Nelson Loveridge, born c. 1985, of 3 Maltmas Road, Friday Bridge, Wisbech PE14 9HR, Danny Rainford, born c. 1990, of Seadyke Caravan Park, Seadyke Road, Wisbech St Mary, Wisbech PE13 4XF, Stacey Smith, born c. 1984, of Baulkins Drove, Sutton St James, Spalding PE12 0JU and Terry Smith, born c. 1983, of Oxney Road, Peterborough PE1
Hare coursers Stacey Smith, Terry Smith, Danny Rainford, Nelson Loveridge
Travellers Nelson Loveridge, Stacey Smith, Danny Rainford and Terry Smith, who are all well known to police, pleaded guilty to being equipped for hare coursing.
All four men, who are “landscape gardeners” by trade, had previous convictions for poaching.
They were arrested by Lincolnshire Police Rural Crime officers following a short pursuit for hare coursing in the Eastern Road area of Spalding on 9 November, 2022.
Police had been called to a suspected hare coursing incident nearby. A grey Volkswagen vehicle – which was not insured, had no MOT and was not registered to anyone – made off when officers arrived.
It was later found abandoned in Flag Lane, Whaplode Drove, alongside a number of recently-killed hares, said prosecutor Kate Minihane.
A dog handler traced the men nearby.
“A download from Terry Smith’s phone showed a hare coursing incident on the day of arrest but it couldn’t be pinpointed where that happened,” said the prosecutor.
“Three dogs were kept by police in kennels at large expense to the public purse.”
They belonged to Loveridge, Rainford and Stacey Smith. All of the dogs had been forfeited and rehomed since. A fourth dog was seized but no one accepted ownership.
Sentencing | four months’ imprisonment suspended for 24 months; a five-year criminal behaviour order not to enter Lincolnshire during the hare coursing season and be on land with a sight hound or be in company with any person with such a dog without permission. Six-month driving disqualification. all items used in connection with the offence have been forfeited, including their vehicle and their dogs. Stacy Smith, Nelson Loveridge and Danny Rainford have been required to pay £3,586 to recover the kennelling costs. They have also each received fines of £239. Disqualified from keeping dogs for five years (expires July 2028).
CONVICTED (2022) | Joshua Exall born 26 November 1996, previously of Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire, but currently of Davidson House, Knockhall Road, Greenhithe, Dartford DA9 9HE – left a dog alone in a property without food and water for up to two weeks.
Exall pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a female Staffordshire bull terrier-type dog named Shadow and to failing to take steps to ensure her needs were met
Victim Shadow as she was before being cruelly abandoned by her selfish owner, Josh Exall.
The RSPCA had received reports of a thin dog at a property in Whittlesey in January 2022. RSPCA Inspector Justin Stubbs had attended the property and had found an emaciated dog loose in the garden.
He contacted the police who attended and seized Shadow on welfare grounds and placed her in the care of the RSPCA.
Inside the house Inspector Stubbs saw two bowls in the kitchen. There was no food and little water. She had been left for days in the same blocked off area of the kitchen, and was only able to toilet in her own living space.
The RSPCA said the fact that there was no faeces there appears to suggest that Shadow had either eaten it due to hunger or that she had not been fed and therefore there was no food going through her to produce faeces.
Shadow was discovered in an emaciated condition in the kitchen of the property. Her food and water bowls were empty. A lack of faeces indicated that she had eaten them in desperation.
In his defence, Exall said he was very sorry and he should have done better for Shadow.
Speaking after the case Inspector Stubbs said: “Shadow’s owner had failed in the most basic needs, of supplying appropriate food and water, for a prolonged time.
Despite her ordeal Shadow, who was “skin and bone” greeted her rescuers enthusiastically. As well as emaciation, she was suffering from hair loss likely related to lack of nutrition.
“Shadow, was a particularly friendly dog, absolutely craving attention.
“She was left for days, with no exercise, no interaction with human or another dog, and had nothing to do in a small, bare kitchen.
“She was signed over and has been doing well in RSPCA care and has now been rehomed.
“I would like to express my thanks to the members of the public who had done all they could to help Shadow.”
Sentencing |180 hours of unpaid work; costs and charges totalling £495. Disqualified from keeping animals for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | James Robert Callaby, born 03/11/1996, of 5 Newlands House, 3 Tindall Close, Wisbech PE13 3QT – attacked a tiny kitten
Callaby was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to a black female kitten named Lola by striking her on the head.
Although Lola went on to make a full recovery, the court heard she had suffered for several hours, possibly longer in pain and disorientation.
Sentencing: 24-week suspended prison sentence; 120 hours of unpaid work; 30 days of rehabilitation activity; costs and charges of £735. Banned from keeping animals for 15 years.
CONVICTED (2019) | Lee John Fisher, born March 1989, of Haslehurst Close, March PE15 9BB – starved pigs to death.
Fisher entered a guilty plea to ten offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
The charges relate to the inadequate diet given to the pigs and a lack of veterinary care provided for them.
Farmer Lee John Fisher of March, Cambridgeshire, left pigs to starve to death in horrible conditions
Following the investigation 103 pigs were signed over into RSPCA care.
RSPCA Inspector Alex Coghlan attended the site in August 2018. She said: “We were alerted to the state of this land via an anonymous letter including photographs.
“The smell of the site hit you as soon as you walked in, the pigs were being kept in cramped conditions and in some cases live animals were lying alongside dead ones.
“It was distressing to see particularly as only one pen had any water for the pigs, when we offered the younger pigs a drink they were frantic. I was very concerned for the welfare of these animals.”
Sentencing: two 18-week custodial sentences and eight 9-week custodial sentences on the charges, to run concurrently. £600 costs. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years.
Nine members of a violent gang of travellers, who committed more than 200 burglaries in 11 months across multiple counties in the East of England region have been jailed for a total of 71 years.
Gang members would mask their faces using balaclavas and smash or force open doors or windows in broad daylight.
They would don forensic suits in a bid to outwit police and were so prolific that in one day in July 2017 they committed seven burglaries, eight the next, and a total of 50 for the whole month.
On one travellers’ site Cambridgeshire Constabulary found seven stolen Labrador puppies in the boot of a car as well as an arsenal of deadly weapons.
Nine of the gang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary:
Charlie Albert Webb, 20, from Newton Flotman, Norfolk – jailed for five years.
John Eli Loveridge, 42, of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk – jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
John Stanley Loveridge, 23, of Greenways, Carleton Rode, Norfolk – jailed for six-and-a-half years.
Joseph Holmes, 21, of Schole Road, Willingham – jailed for four years.
Danny Stone-Parker, 28, of Braintree Road, Great Dunmow – jailed for six-and-a-half years.
Timothy Stone-Parker, 24, of Clay Way, Ely – jailed for six-and-a-half years.
Joe John Spencer Loveridge, 19, of Winchester Road, Sandy, Bedfordshire – jailed for four years.
Richard Oakley, 27, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk – jailed for five years.
Johnny Oakley, 25, of Sandy Park, Beck Row, Suffolk – jailed for five-and-a-half years.
A tenth man, Simon Oakley, 45, of Alburgh Road, Hempnall, Norwich, was found guilty of conspiracy to burgle on 31 October following a trial. He was jailed for nine years.
Detective Inspector Craig Harrison, who led the investigation, said: “These sentences reflect the scale and impact of this gang’s offending.
“Every one of their crimes had a victim so the trauma and devastation caused in quite a short space of time was immense. They clearly had no care at all for the impact their offending was having on communities, particularly in south and east Cambridgeshire, which were particularly badly hit, and, indeed, across the region.”
The gang targeted homes in rural areas, where they could make easy getaways and stole high-performance vehicles to give themselves a better chance of out-running police.
Offences were committed across Cambridgeshire including Littleport, Wisbech, Fordham, Burwell, Prickwillow, Dullingham, Ely, Waterbeach, Soham, Abington, Cambridge, Chippenham, Little Shelford, Isleham, Sawston, Hardwick, Willingham, March, Histon, Swavesey, Longstanton, Little Downham, Stow cum Quay, Doddington, St Ives, Stretham, Chippenham, Balsham, Cottenham, Cheveley, Elsworth, Swaffham Bulbeck, Fulbourn, Newmarket, Teversham, Boxworth, Yaxley and Friday Bridge.
Two other men – James Pateman, 55, of no fixed abode, and his brother, Thomas Brown, 54, of Fen Road, Chesterton, Cambridge – were also found guilty of handling stolen goods on 31 October following a trial at Norwich Crown Court. The court heard the men were involved in the disposal of jewellery between 12 March and 7 November, 2017.
Pateman was jailed for three-and-a-half years and Brown eight years.
Simon Oakley, who owns Stratton Quick Fit, a garage and workshop at Elite Business Park, in Salamanca Road, Norwich, had previously admitted possession of a firearm without a certificate and handling stolen goods.
He provided false registration plates and directed others to commit crime. He helped to hide stolen vehicles and pass them off as legitimate.
CONVICTED (2018) | Winston J Amos, born 10 November 1973, and Angela Amos, born 7 March 1967, both of Norwich Road, Wisbech PE13 2AT – abandoned their two cats when they moved house
Winston and Angela Amos left their pets behind when they moved house
Winston and Angela Amos locked cats Fluffy and Smudge outside their home in Great Ryburgh, north Norfolk, then moved almost 40 miles away to a new property in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.
Jonathan Eales, prosecuting, said a neighbour in Great Ryburgh first called the RSPCA when she saw the Amoses take some property on the bus and leave the cats in the kitchen, though they did return days later.
Both cats were infested with ear mites and Fluffy (pictured) was pregnant
The RSPCA advised the neighbour to contact them if it happened again.
“Two days later Mr and Mrs Amos left the property and never returned,” said Mr Eales. “This time they turfed the cats outside and abandoned them.
“The cats were hanging round the front of the house.”
The couple were both charged with two counts of failing to meet the welfare needs of a cat or to protect a cat from suffering as a consequence of being left unattended at a property.
Mr Eales said the neighbour had kept the cats fed and watered while they were locked out.
The RSPCA visited the property at least five times between March 20 and 28, 2017, leaving notices on the door before eventually taking the cats into RSPCA care.
The defendants did not attend the court hearing.
Mr Amos admitted the offences in a letter sent to the court. He was sentenced in September 2017.
The case against Mrs Amos was adjourned until November 2017 while efforts were made to contact her. She was ultimately sentenced in January 2018.
Inspector Dean Astilberry tracked the couple down to their new address in Wisbech.
“Each of them admitted they were the owners of the two cats, that they had moved and were in a hurry,” said Mr Eales.
Angela Amos told RSPCA inspector Dean Astillberry that the two cats had ran away but prosecutor Mr Eales said this was untrue.
He added: “Reasonable owners would ensure there was a safe shelter for the cats if they returned home and they would ensure fresh food and water was available.
“Most owners would go back to the house on a regular basis, responsible owners would speak to neighbours and ask for contact if the cats returned.”
One of the cats was pregnant and both were suffering from ear mites and a flea infestation.
“They simply abandoned them, presumably hoping they would survive,” said Mr Eales.
“This type of behaviour, unfortunately, has become quite common, with people thinking just because they live outside they can survive.
“That’s simply unacceptable.”
Abandoned cat Smudge
In his letter to the court, Mr Amos admitted leaving the cats, said he had suffered from depression and anxiety, had been out of work and had tried to kill himself.
The court heard he had previously left three cats at a property after a house swap but collected them when the woman he had swapped houses with threatened to call the RSPCA.
It is understood both cats were rehomed.
Sentencing: Winston Amos – ordered to pay a total of £560 in fines and costs. Angela Amos – £400 in fines and costs. Both were banned from keeping animals for five years (his ban expired September 2022, hers January 2023).
CONVICTED (2015) | Robert Harry Phipps, born 07/12/1978, of Station Road, March PE15 8LB – for the neglect of 34 ‘rescued’ dogs kept inside a warehouse
Rob Phipps kept dozens of rescue dogs in squalid conditions and with no access to water
In late 2013 the RSPCA was given information that pet shop owner Phipps, who ran JJ Rescue, was keeping dogs in cramped conditions in cages at a warehouse in Commercial Road, March, and launched an investigation.
What they found at the premises were two smallish rooms each housing 17 dogs in metal cages. One room was a closed internal space without fresh air or natural light.
RSPCA chief inspector Mark Thompson explained: “There were serious concerns for their welfare, but despite several visits and a lot of welfare advice the conditions of these dogs did not improve and the advice was not followed. We then attended along with the police and a vet in February 2014 when police took the dogs and put them in RSPCA care.”
The court heard that the dogs were kept in crates overnight without access to water. Some cages had two dogs inside.
One dog suffered facial injuries where their cages were pushed closely together and they were fighting.
One dog later lost an eye because the vets could not save it following infection for a fight injury.
There was blood where dogs had been fighting and some dogs had excrement in their cage.
Phipps said he was willing for the dogs to be re-homed but could not get a commitment from the RSPCA that dogs would not be put to sleep.
He said he would rather have dogs in crates than in kennels, where they are “not happy” and “spinning”.
He said the dogs would normally be in crates overnight from 10pm to 8am. In the morning, they would be let out for water and fed.
Dogs would be walked two to three times a day and the crates would be cleaned every day, Phipps said.
He estimated he had spent thousands of pounds on vet bills to ensure dogs got the appropriate care.
Phipps said the dogs were getting an appropriate amount of food and exercise, and were well hydrated.
If there were two dogs in the same cage, it was because they were brother and sister and “could not be separated” due to their level of attachment.
Phipps was found guilty of:
Failing to provide a suitable environment for 34 dogs,
Failing to provide the dogs with an appropriate supply of drinking water, and
Causing unnecessary suffering to a dog by housing them in cages next to each other, allowing them to fight through the bars and cause injuries to each other.
Deputy district judge Boswell said: “This man had the very best of intentions but simply took on more than he could handle.
“However, this is a serious case. As an experienced dog handler he should have known that keeping dogs in those conditions was wholly unacceptable.
“Out of your sheer desire to take in dogs to re-home them, you kept your eyes closed to the conditions they were being kept in.”
Sentence: 12-month community order, 180 hours of unpaid work, £1,000 costs and a £60 surcharge. Disqualified from keeping dogs for three years, later reduced to 18 months on appeal (ban expired).
Rob Phipps continues to run a pet shop business in Station Road. He lives in a flat above the shop after being forced to sell his home. Alternative Facebook account here.
#MostEvil | Bridget Louise Cole (aka Bridget Farley-Smith), born 17/11/1982, previously of Debden Green, Ely, Cambridgeshire but more recently (2019) of Whitemill Road, Chatteris PE16 6PG, and Peter John Grant, born 31/03/1986, of Station Road, Manea, March PE15 0HE – tortured a rabbit to death
Animal torturers Bridget Cole and Peter Grant
Charity worker Bridget Cole, who was also a cub scout leader, laughed as she dunked a rabbit named Lucky in a bucket of bleach and water and hit him repeatedly with a metal pole. The male lop was also burned with a cigarette lighter during a sick party.
Bridget Cole pictured in 2021
Accomplice Peter Grant, who was tried separately, finally ended the rabbit’s agony by bludgeoning him to death with a glass bottle.
Cole had denied the charge of cruelly ill-treating Lucky and claimed she had tried to save him from the actions of others, but this cut no ice with the court who also noticed her lack of remorse.
Grant in the meantime claimed he had nothing to do with putting the rabbit in bleach and said he had hit him with a bottle to “put him out of his misery”.
Sentencing: Cole – two-month suspended prison sentence; £1,500 costs. Banned from keeping any animal for 25 years (expires 2030).
Grant – 100 hours’ community service; £300 costs. Five-year ban (expired 2010).
