CONVICTED (2023) | John Alan Langan, born June 1986, of 12 The Hawthorns Great Ayton, Middlesbrough TS9 6BA, Shane Hooton, born c 1992, of Thistle Hill Caravan Park, Thistle Hill, Knaresborough HG5 8LS and Joseph Foster, born 30 December 1987, of 78 Manton Crescent, Worksop S80 2RG and Dean Thomas Adams, born 27 November1995, of 7 Hebron Court, Stokesley, Middlesbrough TS9 5FD – for hare coursing offences.
Clockwise from top left: John Langan, Shane Hooton, Dean Adams, Joe Foster
Appearing in court on 9 October 2023 in relation to hare coursing charges were serial offender John Langan with his latest accomplices Shane Hooton and Joseph Foster. Dean Adams failed to appear in court and a warrant for his arrest was issued.
Langan, Hooton and Foster pleaded guilty to the offences of trespass and going equipped to trespass with intent to search for or pursue hares with dogs, under Section 63 and Section 64 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022.
This was in relation to an incident on 23 December 2022 when four men were stopped by Rural Task Force Officer Rich Fussey as they came off private farmland in Leven in the East Riding of Yorkshire.
They were in possession of running dogs without any permissions to be on the land.
John Langan was sentenced to 12 weeks imprisonment, suspended for 12 months – the court felt the offence was so serious that a custodial sentence could be justified.
He was also given a ten-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering England and Wales with conditions around the control of dogs, not being on private farmland without permission and a complete ban on entering Humberside.
He was also fined £85 costs, £154 victim surcharge, disqualified from driving for 56 days and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid supervised work within the next 12 months.
Shane Hooton was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge and given a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order covering the same conditions as Langan.
Joseph Foster was sentenced to a £500 fine, £85 costs and £200 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2023) | serial animal hoarder and abuser Lee Howard, aka Lee Howard-Smith, born 12 August 1966, previously of Middlesbrough but at the date of his latest conviction of Scott Road, Kettering NN16 9JY – kept animals in faeces-ridden home despite lifetime ban.
Howard was banned from keeping animals for life in 2006 after leaving 13 horses and ponies, 11 hens, four dogs and a rabbit to die of thirst and starvation in Trimdon, County Durham. The animals had been locked inside stables and left to die. Three dogs survived by eating the remains of the dead animals.
Just a few months later Howard was back in court after it was discovered he was keeping 11 dogs and 16 birds at a house in Delarden Road, Pallister Park, Middlesbrough.
The animals were kept in squalid conditions, with the dogs running around in piles of faeces and pools of urine. Six of them had problems with their paws and one had an ear infection.
Howard was given a further six-month jail term for breaching his ban.
Now Howard has received a suspended prison sentence after working as a paid pet-sitter. A licensed dog breeder that had used his services happened to see his name and photograph on an animal cruelty website and reported him to the RSPCA.
On January 6, 2023, police officers and an RSPCA inspector searched Howard’s home in Scott Road, Kettering, and found yet more animals living in filthy conditions without access to water.
Confined in the kitchen was a Boston terrier dog called Harriet, who Howard said he was looking after for a friend.
The floor of the kitchen was covered in faeces and there was no access to water and no proper bedding.
Bird cages were found in the lounge, with one containing an Amazon green parrot called Jud and the other housing two cockatiels called Paxo and Stuffing. Both cages were dirty with old food, faeces and no fresh water. Fish tanks with goldfish and tropical fish were also found.
Two female cats called Sooty and Blacky were discovered in a bedroom described as ‘almost floor to ceiling’ with belongings and old cages and tanks.
The floor was caked in faeces and both cats were infested with fleas.
Police also seized documents from as far back as 2012 with breeding and pedigree certificates, animal course certificates and even a judging education certificate from The Kennel Club found in a frame.
The dog, Harriet, was later taken back to her owner who was not aware of any animal welfare incidents relating to Howard. The court heard he had been looking after her since 2017.
The court heard that in his role as a pet-sitter for the breeder Howard had control of 15 dogs, four chickens and numerous finch-like birds and would be paid £35 a day. He looked after the animals on at least 15 occasions between August 2021 and August 2022 – including the odd overnight stay – and was even listed as a keyholder on the man’s council animal welfare licence.
In court, Howard pleaded guilty to failing to take reasonable steps to ensure animal needs were met and breaching a disqualification from keeping animals.
Mitigating, Sewli Kuddus said Howard suffers from physical and mental health issues and has problems with self-care.
She said he has no family and has only recently been given a carer.
She said: “He had no-one to say to him ‘what you are doing is wrong’.”
Speaking after the case, RSPCA inspector Susan Haywood said: “I hope that now that he has been sentenced by the court the defendant will learn from this experience and not get animals which he clearly is unable to look after properly.”
Sentencing | 18 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months. 20 rehabilitation activity days; costs of £400 plus £154 victim surcharge. Howard was also handed another lifetime ban from keeping animals and cannot apply to have it lifted for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2023) | Keith Williams, born 26 May 1963, of 15 Westmorland Road, Linthorpe, Middlesbrough TS5 6DG – caught whipping and kicking Labrador on Ring doorbell.
Keith Williams was captured on camera abusing a terrified Labrador
The shocking footage showed Williams, who owns identical black Labradors named Scooby and Rambo, threatening to kill one of them after the dog had gone to the toilet in the street. He was also seen kicking the animal with force and hitting him with the end of a lead five times.
The court heard how footage from separate incidents on March 10 and March 17, 2023, was passed to the RSPCA., who prosecuted Williams under the Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Victim Scooby
RSPCA inspector Clare Wilson visited Williams’ Linthorpe home, on March 27 after viewing the footage showing him shouting, kicking and hitting the dog identified by the defendant as Scooby.
“We all went into the rear living room of the property. I observed the man who gave his name as Keith Williams,” said inspector Wilson. “He matched the description given by the witness and the male seen in the footage.
“I could see a black Labrador type dog in the small rear yard of the property, through the window. Mr Williams said the dog was called Scooby but he appeared to pause and think before saying this name.
“I told Mr Williams that I was investigating an incident that had been captured on CCTV relating to him and his dog, which was a suspected criminal offence.”
Scooby, who seemed to respond more to the name Rambo, was seized as evidence by the police and taken by the inspector for a veterinary examination before being placed in a private boarding establishment. At that point Williams declined to sign his dog over into the care of the charity and said he wanted him back.
The video footage was passed to a vet who also provided evidence in the case. He said it was his opinion that the defendant had handled the dog inappropriately and caused him to suffer.
“The actions of the owner have caused the dog suffering via pain and fear, even if only for a transient period,” he said. “The owner also did not protect the dog from injury.
“Examination by a veterinary surgeon 10 days later did not reveal any signs of lameness, bruising or injury to the dog, but these findings do not indicate an absence of injury. Blunt force trauma to a dog can result in pain, bruising and injury which may resolve within three to five days. Therefore an examination would not necessarily identify injury and bruising that had occurred 10 days earlier.”
Speaking after the conclusion of the case, inspector Wilson said: “The defendant’s behaviour towards his pet was totally unnecessary and unacceptable. Scooby could neither escape nor defend himself from being assaulted and we’re grateful to the person that alerted us and enabled Mr Williams to be held accountable for his actions”.
Scooby was later signed over into the care of the RSPCA. He made a full recovery and was transferred to one of the charity’s animal centres to be rehomed.
Sentencing | 12 month community order with 15-day rehabilitation activity requirement; costs of £2,214. A 10 year ban on keeping dogs.
CONVICTED (2022) | Hayley Marie Lane, born 29 November 1985, and Neale Bowden, born c. 1984, of 66 Strauss Road, South Bank, Middlesbrough TS6 6QG – starved two dogs and kept them in atrocious conditions.
Crossbreeds Angel and Bonnie were found in ‘dirty and unkempt’ conditions at the couple’s home on Strauss Road in August 2021. An RSPCA inspector attended the property after community concerns.
Bowden originally denied owning a dog but was caught out when one appeared in the doorway.
The court heard he then complied with the inspector admitting ‘one of the dogs is in a bad way and needs to put to sleep’ but claimed he couldn’t afford the fees.
Alex Bousfield, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said Angel was unable to stand and was in a room which smelled like urine and faeces. He said the pup had overgrown nails, was severely underweight and covered in fleas.
Angel weighed just 7.81kg but the court heard a healthy dog of her size and breed should have weighed 12kg at the lowest up to 17kg. Pictures branded by magistrates as ‘distressing’ saw her emaciated on scales at a vets practice.
The other animal, Bonnie, was found with extensive fur loss, fleas and thickened skin which Mr Bousfield said was a sign of prolonged irritation.
The court heard Bonnie was constantly scratching and trying to bite herself to relieve the discomfort.
Bonnie and Angel were signed over to the RSPCA but Angel was put to sleep on veterinary advice. During inspection at Stanhope Park Veterinary Hospital, in Darlington, the vet concluded unnecessary suffering had been caused.
Simon Walker, mitigating, said the couple were struggling financially at the time of the offences.
He said: “Part of this problem is financial difficulties and whilst this has improved the couple are still paying for the problems of the past. This is a sad and serious case and the situation on August 24 suggests the adults in the house had more or less given up. There is clear evidence they couldn’t cope with the situation and life in general.”
Mr Walker said there were no previous problems until financial difficulties coincided with mental health troubles. He told the court the pair are remorseful and the neglect came at a time when Bowden stopped taking medication for his mental health problems. He also said Lane lacked the skills to deal with the situation.
Mr Walker told the court the pair pleaded guilty at the first opportunity and have no previous convictions. He said they had lost their good names and acquired convictions in a crime which ‘incites public revulsion.’
Sentencing | 18-week prison sentence suspended for two years; £328 costs and charges; unpaid work for Bowden and a community order for Lane; rehabilitation activity requirement. Five-year ban on keeping any animals (expires March 2027).
CONVICTED (2021) | Paul Tweedy, born c. 1976, of Trimdon Avenue, Acklam, Middlesbrough TS5 – possession of extreme pornography involving a live animal and images of child sexual abuse.
Sick Tweedy was caught with illegal images of children being sexually abused, as well as an extreme image of a sex act involving a pig.
He pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children; one count of the distribution of an indecent image of a child and to the possession of an extreme pornographic image of a person performing an act of intercourse with a live animal, between March 4, 2019 and April 23, 2021.
The court heard that Tweedy had, “lost his good character in the community” following his arrest, and had to relinquish his position of captain of his local darts team, and leave the cricket team he played for.
It was also heard that Tweedy’s partner is standing by him and she offered a character reference to the court.
Police raided Tweedy’s home after being tipped off by another branch who had uncovered Tweedy uploading an indecent image of a child aged between 10-12, from a Kik chatroom.
Forensic officers found eleven illegal images and videos on Tweedy’s mobile phone.
Four were in the most serious category and featured girls aged 4-11 in, “obvious pain and distress” being sexually abused.
Tweedy had opened a Kik account with the username, ‘HandyAndy’. Police traced the user’s IP to Tweedy’s previous address on Edgeworth Court in Hemlington.
Defending Tweedy, Kelleigh Lodge said that he genuinely regretted his actions and was, “disgusted at some of the images”.
Miss Lodge told the court that Tweedy had downloaded Kik with the intention of chatting with adults on the site that boasts, “anything goes” and that he had inadvertently come across the images of children being abused.
But Judge Jonathan Carroll told Miss Lodge: “I find that difficult to accept. If you stumble across those images you don’t stay in the chatroom and don’t save any. I know what he says and I reject that submission”.
Tweedy said he was only attracted to women over the age of 16, and men over the age of 18.
Sentencing: eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 24-months; 120 hours of unpaid work; curfew; 25 rehabilitation days. Ordered to attend a training programme for offenders who access child abuse online. He was made subject to a sexual harm prevention order for ten years and will sign the sex offenders register.
#MostEvil | James Wright-King (aka James King), born 27 October 1997, of 28 Darwen Court, Hemlington, Middlesbrough TS8 9JF – inflicted multiple injuries on a puppy on separate occasions and eventually killed her. Girlfriend Jasmine Lee Smith, born 15 September 2001, of Raydale, Hemlington, Middlesbrough TS8 9SB failed to get treatment for the badly injured puppy.
Jasmine Smith and James King were convicted of animal cruelty in relation to a pug puppy that had suffered multiple unexplained injuries.
James Wright-King was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to the seven-month-old pug puppy, known as Ruby.
His partner Jasmine Lee Smith, 20, was found guilty on two counts. Magistrates accepted she was not involved in the incidents but was found guilty of failing to provide a safe environment and failing to get vet treatment for the dog.
The court heard how the puppy endured multiple injuries before eventually dying. These included burns to her back, a broken femur, broken pelvis, numerous broken ribs on both sides, broken jaw on both sides, broken bones in her neck, a severely fractured skull and a lacerated tongue.
Victim Ruby
The court heard how the puppy’s recently deceased body was taken to a vets in Middlesbrough on November 17, 2020, by Wright-King.
He told the vet he had fallen on top of her while playing and heard her neck snap, the RSPCA reported.
But as the injuries were suspicious the dog’s plight was reported to the RSPCA, and inspector Krissy Raine was sent to investigate.
She was told Ruby was dead on arrival at the vets but must have died very recently as she was still warm.
Due to their concerns about the injuries they gave Ruby’s body an X-ray and she was found to have fractures to her neck, pelvis, femur and three ribs.
She also had a very deeply lacerated tongue which had been badly bleeding.
Krissy was told Ruby had also been seen by the vet in the past for lameness and a burn or scald injury.
An independent veterinary expert reviewed the injuries to Ruby as part of the RSPCA investigation and said up until her death she had been presented at different vets on a number of occasions.
In his conclusion he stated that he believed Ruby had been subjected to three blunt force traumas in her short life.
She also suffered a severe large burn injury on her back on August 24 which the defendant claimed was caused by an allergic reaction to soap.
However, the expert said he believed it had been caused by bleach being scrubbed along her back.
In a statement, the expert vet said: “Ruby was caused to suffer extreme pain and distress as a consequence of the multiple fractures and soft tissue injuries that she sustained as a result of at least three very violent blunt force traumas as well as the severe burns that were in my expert opinion also deliberately inflicted by Mr Wright-King.
“There is a reasonable question in relation to the final incident as to whether Ruby did suffer as a result of the skull fractures as the injury to the brain and spinal cord was so severe it is certainly possible and in fact likely that she was rendered instantly unconscious.”
Throughout interviews and the court case Wright-King denied causing any harm to the dog and when told by the RSPCA inspector that he would have to be interviewed under caution he said: ‘‘You’re joking, Ruby was like our child.”
Wright-King and girlfriend Jasmine Lee Smith had pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming the injuries were accidental, but were convicted on all charges.
Smith was also convicted two offences of failing to follow veterinary advice concerning the leg injury and failing to provide a safe environment for the puppy.
King and Smith pictured outside court
Neil Douglas, mitigating for Smith and Wright-King, said they are in “very different positions”.
Mr Douglas said Smith had “some culpability” for the puppy but as she lived elsewhere “couldn’t be responsible for the animal as she wasn’t there all of the time”.
He told the court: “She is shaken to the core by this experience. She thought the dog was reasonably well cared for.”
Mr Douglas described Smith as a “law-abiding person” who works two jobs, one of which is at a golf club: “She is a normal 20-year-old caught up in something she would say she wasn’t aware of.”
Mr Douglas described Wright-King as well educated, but with an “awful upbringing” living in foster care during his teenage years. He told the court: “Nothing can justify what he did. He is someone who clearly shouldn’t be in charge of animals.”
Mr Douglas also asked for any prison sentence to be suspended as Wright-King was due to start working 12-hour shifts on the production line at SK Foods.
Following lengthy deliberations, the magistrates’ bench returned their verdicts, with the chair describing the case as one of the “most serious animal cruelty cases we have came across”.
Speaking after the sentencing hearing, RSPCA inspector Raine said: “Ruby was a young pup who was only two months old when the defendants acquired her and during the next five months she suffered multiple injuries. It’s so hard to comprehend the pain she went through.
“I found it a deeply upsetting case to investigate and the magistrates said in sentencing that they were horrified.”
Sentencing: Wright-King – jailed for six months; £728 in fees and charges. Banned from owning animals for life with no right of appeal for 25 years. Smith – 18-month community order, 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days; 150 hours of unpaid work; £695 in fees and charges. 10-year ban on keeping animals which cannot be appealed for five years.
CONVICTED (2021) | serial wildlife persecutor John Alan Langan, born June 1986, of 12 The Hawthorns, Great Ayton, Middlesbrough TS9 6BA and Thomas Agar McDonald, born c. 1986, most recently of Riverside Nurseries, Stokesley, Middlesbrough TS9 5JQ – caught hare coursing.
Thomas Agar McDonald
On the afternoon of Saturday 23 January 2021, a vigilant member of the public called police to report that poachers were chasing hares with a dog in a field near Chapel Haddlesey, Selby.
Officers from North Yorkshire Police attended immediately. The suspects made off from the area in this Honda CR-V, and in the process drove through a red light. Officers followed them, and stopped them in South Milford, where they were both arrested, and their dog and car seized.
In court, Thomas McDonald, a convicted drug dealer, and John Alan Langan, who has racked up numerous similar offences, both pleaded guilty to hunting a wild mammal with dogs. McDonald also admitted an offence of failing to comply with a road traffic sign.
McDonald was fined a total of £239 for the hunting offence, as well as £100 and three points for going through the red light. Langan was fined £239 for the hunting offence, a forfeiture order was placed on the dog, and he was disqualified for five years from owning, keeping or being in control of dog.
In February 2018 John Langan was convicted of hare coursing alongside Tommy Jaffray from Thorntree in east Middlesbrough, a member of an organised crime gang currently serving a 13-year prison sentence for drug dealing.
Tommy Jaffray
In September 2017 Langan and Jaffray were spotted hare coursing by Lincolnshire Police
In March 2010, he was arrested in Bridlington and charged with hunting a wild mammal with dogs.
He was found to be involved in a high number of other incidents of poaching and hare coursing between 2005 and 2010.
The ASBO lasted for three years, but he was again caught in the cruel act and fined at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court .
Two lurcher dogs, called Lucky and Spencer (pictured above), were seized and later rehomed.
Both Langan and Jaffray were fined £120 and ordered to pay £300 costs and £30 charges.
Both received driving bans and were given criminal behaviour orders (CBO).
Chief superintendent Mark Housley of Lincolnshire Police said: “We’ve waited for a result like this for some time but I’m very pleased now we have got it.
“Here in Lincolnshire we know that by seizing dogs we stop people wanting to come here for hare coursing, and it also prevents all the violence towards farmers and the damage to their property that goes with it.
“People living in urban areas wouldn’t believe how bad this is – it’s soul destroying for farmers and their families, many of who I know have struggled to sleep at night because of threats made by hare coursers.
“The welfare of the dogs is also very important to us.
“Only a week ago we came across a dog that had been left in a field to die as the hare coursers left her so they could escape from police officers.
“Our officers were horrified to see she had been fatally struck on her head.
“We will continue to make every effort to tackle this cruel and supposed ‘sport’, and get the animals into the caring home a dog should have.”
CONVICTED (2020) | Jason Scott, born c. 1990, of St Andrews Road West, Grangetown, Middlesbrough TS6 7JB – left his pet dog’s huge mouth tumour untreated
Jason Scott, who appears to have another dog (pictured) is now banned from keeping animals until December 2025 after failing to take his gravely ill pet to the vet for treatment for a massive mouth tumour
Eleven-year-old Mastiff x American bulldog Buster was suffering from a growth so large that he was unable to eat or drink properly.
Mastiff x American bulldog Buster had a growth which was larger than his entire mouth
The dog’s teeth were on the outside of the tumour, which was larger than his entire mouth, and he was foaming at the nose.
He had difficulty breathing and there was blood and puss dripping from his mouth.
His body was thin, as the mass had caused him to lose weight, and he was unable to stand up.
After examining the dog, vets concluded that he had been left without treatment for at least three months.
In order to stop him suffering further, they decided to put him to sleep.
Buster’s owner Jason Scott has been prosecuted by the RSPCA in relation to his mistreatment of the dog.
Jason Scott had owned 11-year-old Buster since he was a puppy but failed to get him vital healthcare when he needed it
Scott admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between June 7 and July 27, 2020, at Somerset Road, in Grangetown, Middlesbrough.
The court heard, in mitigation, how Scott had had Buster since he was a puppy and loved the dog.
He had contacted the PDSA, who had told him initially to self medicate the dog with paracetamol until they could take referrals due to the covid-19 pandemic.
The court heard how they tried to contact Scott again, on a number of occasions, just a couple of days later to arrange a follow up. However they were unable to reach the defendant.
Scott admitted he was reluctant to take Buster to a vet as he felt inevitable that Buster would be put to sleep.
Buster in healthier times
RSPCA Inspector Terri-Ann Fannon led the investigation for the animal welfare charity.
She said: “As soon as I entered the property I was hit with a pungent smell of infection and decay.
“Buster was lying under a stairwell and he had an extremely large growth inside and outside of his mouth. His teeth appeared to be on the outside of the growth which was larger than his entire mouth.
“Scott agreed I could take Buster to a vet and as he carried him outside to my van he asked me to walk in front of him to hide Buster because he did not want his neighbours to see the state of the dog.”
Following the court case, she added: “Pet-owners have a legal responsibility to ensure their animals do not surfer and that their needs are met and sadly Scott failed in this duty towards Buster.
“He should have been more persistent with the vets and sought treatment for Buster rather than allowing his condition to significantly deteriorate into a suffering state.”
Sentencing: 12 weeks in prison suspended for 12 months; 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days. Banned from owning animals for five years (expires December 2025).
CONVICTED (2020) | Ashley Lauren Corner, born November 1985, of Park Avenue, Marton, Middlesbrough TS6 0AP – for the neglect of two dogs found in dire condition.
Ashley Corner is now banned from owning animals until 2025
Corner’s dogs, West Highland terriers Harvey and Woody, were found by RSPCA officers with matted fur and paws covered in faeces.
The single mother-of-three boys, who is also a backyard breeder, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal between September 1 and 29, 2019.
Neglected dog Harvey (this image is a couple of years old)
Stuart Haywood, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said officers were called to Corner’s house after reports regarding the state of the dogs.
Mr Haywood said that Corner initially refused the RSPCA officers entry, but they subsequently returned and finally gained entry.
Corner’s home was found to have a “strong smell of urine and faeces” and the dogs were “covered in fleas” with “matted fur”.
The paws of one dog were covered in faeces and both also smelled strongly.
Unremorseful Corner laughs outside court
The court heard that Corner signed one of the dogs over to the RSPCA but refused to do so with the other.
Corner, now of Newton Aycliffe, admitted failing to adequately explore and address the causes of the poor condition of both dogs.
Sentencing: 12-month community order with 12 rehabilitation activity days. Ordered to pay £200 costs which will be taken out of her Universal Credit payments. Banned from keeping animals for five years (expires September 2025).
CONVICTED (2020) | Michael Rodger Warren, born 20 June 1985, of Avondale Close, Grangetown, Middlesbrough TS6 9SD and with links to Guildford, Blackpool, Whitstable and Worthing – let a German Shepherd starve to death and left another with severe muscle wastage in squalid faeces-littered house
White German shepherd Bolt had already starved to death by the time RSPCA inspectors gained entry to Michael Warren’s squalid home, while his other dog Panther tragically stood guard over the corpse.
When RSPCA inspectors visited Michael Warren’s filthy home on June 27, 2020, they discovered the stricken dogs, Bolt and Panther. Very sadly, Bolt had already died from malnutrition while Panther had been starved to the point of emaciation. He weighed just 17.5kg, which is around half the weight of a healthy German Shepherd.
He had also suffered hair loss and was riddled with fleas.
When interviewed Warren was said to show “very little remorse” for what happened and “at one point he got up to make a cup of tea”.
Panther and Bolt (white), who were left to starve by Michael Warren
Warren was charged with two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal but didn’t even turn up to his trial at the Magistrates’ Court.
Shocking hypocrisy: Warren lies on social media about Bolt’s cruel and preventable death
He was found guilty in his absence and also appeared on Thursday 10 July 2020 to be sentenced for breaching a suspended sentence order relating to an offence he was sentenced for in 2019.
Nicci Horton, mitigating, said her client had a diagnosis of dyslexia, had attended special needs schools in his youth and was taken into foster care at the age of six.
Ms Horton told the court that the puppies were bred by Warren’s mother, prolific backyard greeder Lucy Koca of Redcar. In June 2018 Koca had given her son two of the puppies as a birthday present but when he tried to return them, she refused to take them back.
Bolt and Panther as puppies
Ms Horton agreed her client had been “negligent” in his actions, adding that he had been mostly living at another address at the time.
Warren has six previous convictions for eight offences.
