Tag Archives: multiple victims

dog fighting, Dogs, Lifers, Organised Animal Crime, Pet Profiteering, Serial Animal Abusers, Worst of the Worst

UK-Wide dog-fighting ring: Gary Adamson, Claire Parker, Mohammed Farooq, Christopher Burgess, Kenneth King, Jane Adamson

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CONVICTED (2009) | Gary David Adamson (26/01/1971) of Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees, Owen Anthony Batey (26/11/1968) from Middlesbrough, Christopher John Burgess (24/11/1966) from Mansfield, Kenneth Harold King (14/12/1973) from Newark, Jane Adamson aka Jane Barnes (22/12/1970) of Thornaby, Stockton-on-Tees, Claire Amanda Parker (15/12/1964) from Gainsborough, and Mohammed Nasir Farooq (16/09/1975) of Bordesley Green, Birmingham

Members of UK dog-fighting ring Claire Parker, Gary Adamson, Mohammed Farooq, Owen Batey
, Clockwise from top left Claire Parker, Gary Adamson, Mohammed Farooq, Owen Batey

Members of one of the UK’s biggest dog-fighting gangs were caught as part of two major investigations into dog fighting by the RSPCA’s special operations unit named Operations Cannon and Castle.

Separate footage obtained by an undercover reporter working on a BBC Panorama investigation into organised dog fighting and a notorious gang, the Farmers’ Boys, also provided the RSPCA with vital video evidence to bring the gang to justice.

Video footage captured Adamson readying his dog for a fight

In a secretly recorded video shown in the programme, Gary Adamson proudly boasts that a dog named as Pablo suffered a “real good ragging” in a half-hour fight with Kenneth King’s dog Chief for £500 prize money. Adamson pulls up the nervous-looking dog by his collar at one point to show multiple white scars on his face, a ripped ear and some stapled wounds.

Gary Adamson
Gary Adamson – the self-described”Don King” of dog fighting

Adamson was caught on camera naming some of those who attended, while others were tracked down by the RSPCA.

The journalist secretly filmed Adamson’s now ex wife Jane Adamson (now Jane Barnes) at a dog fight.

Jane Adamson / Jane Barnes

When Jane Adamson was interviewed by police, she told officers: “I just did what I had to do.”

Searches were carried out at several premises, including the homes of the defendants. Equipment including several treadmills, training aids, home veterinary kits and prescription only drugs were all discovered by the RSPCA inspectors who investigated the case. Many of the individuals also had elaborate kennel set-ups at their home addresses, along with several pit bull type dogs that had scars from previous fights.

Dog kept for fighting by Gary Adamson
‘Fighting’ dog chained up at Gary Adamson’s home

During a search of Claire Parker’s home, RSPCA inspectors discovered a blood stained fighting pit constructed in the garage. This is believed to be the pit where the fight described by Adamson was held. The inspectors also found three pit bull type dogs, an elaborate set of kennels and treadmills used to train the animals at Parker’s premises.

Badly injured fighting dog
Dog badly injured after being forced by Adamson’s evil gang to participate in a fight

Adamson boasted how he was the “Don King of dog fighting” and was a top breeder and trader of bull terriers.

Details of Charges and Sentencing

Claire Parker, aka Claire Page, denied all the charges but was found guilty of being present at a dog fight, keeping a premises for dog fighting and possessing three pit bull dogs. She was sentenced to 18 weeks in prison and banned from keeping animals for ten years (expired 2019).

Her late-husband John Parker was also due to stand trial on dog fighting charges, but he died before the hearing while in prison for other offences.

Gary Adamson
Gary Adamson

Gary Adamson of 9 Seymour Avenue, Eaglescliffe, Stockton-on-Tees TS16 0LD pleaded guilty to six charges in connection with illegal dog fighting and was given 23 weeks in prison. He was banned from keeping animals for life.

Mohammed Farooq of 43 Daniels Road, Birmingham B9 5XP was found guilty on two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and possessing training equipment for dog fighting and was jailed for the maximum 26 weeks. Banned from keeping all animals for life.

Owen Batey of 44 Cannock Road, Middlesbrough TS3 7NU was given 23 weeks in jail, having admitted setting two pit bulls on each other, being present at a dog-fight and owning a pit bull. He was disqualified from keeping animals for life.

Christopher Burgess of 44 Nursery Court, Nursery Street, Mansfield NG18 2AJ pleaded guilty to one charge of keeping a banned dog and received 160 hours’ community service.

Kenneth King of Island Cottage, High Street, East Markham, Newark NG22 0QJ admitted eight charges including taking part in dog fights. He was jailed for 23 weeks and banned from keeping animals for life.

Jane Adamson previously of Pacific Drive, Stockton on Tees (current address tbc) admitted one charge: causing unnecessary suffering to a pit bull terrier type dog named Pablo by failing to obtain veterinary attention in respect of injuries sustained in a fight. She was given an 18-month community order and told to pay £150 in costs. She was banned from keeping dogs for 10 years (expired 2019).

An unidentified 17-year-old youth was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and keeping dog-fighting equipment. He was given a six-month referral order and a five-year ban from keeping or owning animals.

Several members of the gang appealed, but these were largely unsuccessful.

A fight broke out inside the court building during which Kenneth King received head injuries. Police had to use a taser to overpower Christopher Burgess.

BBC News
Birmingham Mail
Northern Echo

Update February 2021

Claire Parker was sentenced to four and a half years in jail after she crashed her BMW at 80mph and killed a devoted couple.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Parker was estimated to be driving her BMW at 80mph when she crossed over double white lines and moved out to pass two cars and a double decker bus before colliding with the couple’s vehicle.

Mirror

Dogs, Pet Profiteering, puppy farmers / traffickers, kennels, backyard breeders

Ashford, Kent: Melanie King

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CONVICTED (2009) | breeder Melanie Jean King, born 10/08/1954, of Station Farm, Station Road, Appledore, Ashford TN26 2DG – kept dozens of dogs in cramped and squalid conditions

Neglected puppy on Melanie King's farm

Melanie King, formerly of Whents Farm in Teynham, near Sittingbourne, was given a suspended prison sentence, ordered to undertake unpaid work and to pay over £1000 in costs to Swale Council after breaching the conditions of her dog-breeding licence.

She was sentenced at Sittingbourne Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to 24 offences under Section 1 of the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973.

The court was shown a number of images of 40 dogs on her farm kept in cramped and squalid conditions.

Vets inspecting the premises in December 2008 had raised serious concerns about breeding conditions at the establishment.

It was agreed a new licence would be granted to King for a temporary period. This was to allow her time to deal with hygiene issues raised.

But on three further inspections by council officers and the RSPCA between February and March 2009, numerous breaches of the breeding licence were discovered which led to the prosecution.

Neglected puppy on Melanie King's farm

In sentencing, magistrates told King that had she failed to plead guilty at an early stage, they would have imposed a custodial sentence.

Speaking after sentencing, Swale council’s environmental response manager, Alister Andrews, said: “This conviction is a significant victory not only for us, but also for the animals which were kept at this establishment.”

Sentencing: 140-day suspended prison sentence; 150 hours’ unpaid work; £1,100 costs. Banned for life from breeding dogs, although this was reduced on appeal to just seven years in 2011 (expired).

KentOnline

Animal Abandonment, Equine Abuse, horses and ponies, Pet Profiteering, riding stables, stud farms and livery yards, Worst of the Worst

Rotherham, South Yorkshire: Dawn Rose

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CONVICTED (2009) | Dawn Elizabeth Rose, born 25/01/1960, previously of Llangolen, North Wales, and more recently Duncan Street, Brinsworth, Rotherham S60 5DE – allowed 72 horses on her failing stud farm to starve

RSPCA inspectors found desperately emaciated animals foraging for scraps of food on Dawn Rose's stud farm.
RSPCA inspectors found desperately emaciated animals on Dawn Rose’s stud farm.

Divorcee Dawn Rose set up a stud farm using a £300,000 pay-out from her ex-partner to fulfil her teenage daughter’s dream of breeding ponies.

But the business was a failure, and when inspectors raided it they found desperately emaciated animals foraging for scraps of food.

Rose pleaded guilty to six charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals.

The mother-of-two wept as RSPCA prosecutor Glen Murphy said the experienced inspection team had been “stunned” by the appalling condition of the animals on her stud farm.

RSPCA inspector Chris Dunbar first visited Rose in March 2008 when she bought her 42-acre farm to start a stud.

Inspector Dunbar said: “We had concerns from the start as she wasn’t feeding the horses. We kept going back — she listened but did nothing.”

RSPCA inspectors found desperately emaciated animals foraging for scraps of food on Dawn Rose's stud farm.

One horse, a chestnut mare called Mist, was little more than a ‘skeleton with skin stretched over’, and the vet who treated her was amazed she could still stand up.

Three others were so weak that they died soon afterwards.

Rose, who had moved to the area from Norfolk, told investigators her money had run out and she could not afford to pay for the animals.

Sitting at Mold magistrates court, district judge Andrew Shaw told Ms Rose: “You neglected these horses in an obvious and shameful way.”

Mr Dunbar added: “We were happy with the ban. Our job is to stop cruelty and in this case that’s what we feel we’ve done.”

Sentencing: three-month sentence suspended for 12 months; 100 hours of unpaid community work. Banned from keeping or being involved with horses for 10 years (expired 2019).

As a bankrupt, Rose was only ordered to pay £250 of the RSPCA’s prosecution costs of £128,554.

Horse & Hound
Daily Mail

Animal Abandonment, Dogs, Lifers, Worst of the Worst

Cleator Moor, Cumbria: Michelle Porter

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CONVICTED (2009) | Michelle ‘Shelly’ Porter, born 22/09/1988, of Heather Bank, Cleator Moor CA25 5HW – let one dog starve to death and left another fighting for his life

Dog abuser Michelle Porter from Cleator Moor in Cumbria
Mother of two Shelly Porter was jailed after leaving her dogs to starve

Heroin addict Michelle Porter admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Staffordshire bull terriers Zelda and Diesel.

RSPCA officers found the carcass of five-year-old Zelda, when they went to Porter’s home. Zelda’s son, one-year-old Diesel, was emaciated.

Diesel was skeletal when rescued by the RSPCA. Happily he recovered and was rehomed.

It is believed both dogs had been left to starve for three weeks, despite a large bag of open dog food and six tins of dog food being only two metres away from the cages the dogs were kept in.

Peter Sharp, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court that Zelda’s hips, ribs and spine were clearly visible when she was found by an RSPCA inspector and the floor was sodden with urine.

Dog abuser Michelle Porter from Cleator Moor in Cumbria

Presiding magistrate David Wilson told Porter the offences were so serious that only custody could be justified.

Diesel recovered and was rehomed.

Sentencing: 120 days in a young offenders institute for each of the four animal cruelty charges, to run concurrently. Banned from keeping animals for life.

Whitehaven News

Animal Torture, Cats, Lifers, Pet Theft, Serial Animal Abusers, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers, Worst of the Worst

Clarkston, East Renfrewshire: Anthony John Docherty

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#MostEvil | serial cat killer Anthony John Docherty, born 31 December1985, of 4 Woodburn Avenue, Glasgow G76 7TZ

Serial cat killer Anthony John Docherty pictured outside court

In January 2009 Docherty tortured, mutilated and killed several cats, which he had stolen from houses in his neighbourhood of Clarkston, East Renfrewshire.

He is known to have killed three cats. All were decapitated, two were scalped, and one had its tail pulled off.

Three cat skulls were also found in his garden.

Dozens of pets had gone missing in the area and many cat owners feared their pets had fallen into evil Docherty’s hands.

Serial cat killer Anthony John Docherty pictured outside court

The court heard psychiatric reports that Docherty’s behaviour could escalate towards humans.

He was banned from owning, keeping or taking charge of animals indefinitely.

In 2010 Docherty had his jaw broken in an apparent revenge attack. He was walking along the road when he was jumped and battered by two strangers — before a well-meaning passing motorist regrettably stopped to help him.

Sentence: jailed for eight months. Indefinite ban on keeping animals

Newslink:
BBC News

Animal Abandonment, donkeys and mules, Equine Abuse, horse traders, horses and ponies, Lifers, Traveller Animal Crimes, Worst of the Worst

Amersham, Buckinghamshire: James Sr, James Jr, Julie, Jodie and Cordelia Gray

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#MostEvil | Amersham horse trader James John Gray (05/09/1963), wife Julie Cordelia Gray (24/05/1967) and daughters Jodie June Gray (12/09/1982) and Cordelia Gray (29/05/1988) and James Gray junior (23/01/1993) – left more than 100 horses, ponies and donkeys to starve among the rotting carcasses of other animals

James Gray Sr, Julie Gray, Cordelia Gray, Jodie Gray, court protestors, James Gray Jr
Clockwise from top left: James Gray Sr, Julie Gray, Cordelia Gray, Jodie Gray, court protestors, James Gray Jr

In a case veterinary expert witness described as the worst case of animal cruelty they had ever seen, 31 equines were found dead at Spindle Farm, Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, Amersham. Some 111 other horses, ponies and donkeys were rescued.

The massive rescue was co-ordinated by Thames Valley Police, Trading Standards and the RSPCA with help from the Horse Trust, the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH), Redwings Horse Sanctuary and the Blue Cross

James Gray Senior
James Gray Sr is banned for life from keeping equine animals

Hooves and body parts of horses that had been left to die were scattered around and a grotesque mound made up of bones and skulls was discovered.

The horror scene was uncovered when RSPCA inspectors were called to the farm, where a horse-trading business run by the Gray family was based.

James Gray Junior
James Gray Jr

There were 140 animals at the farm and many were left with little food or dry bedding, were crammed into pens and ankle-deep in their own faeces.

Jodie Gray, aka Jodie Keet, with son Tommy Gray

In total 115 animals, some severely emaciated, had to be rescued and removed from the farm during a huge operation in January 2009.

Cordelia Gray

Robert Seabrook QC told the court how two RSPCA inspectors visiting the farm in January 2008 were confronted with a “grotesque and distressing state of affairs”.

He said a number of horses were discovered in “disgusting pens”, some were tethered individually and others were loose in the paddocks.

The most extraordinary aspect he said was that many horses were next to carcasses in varying states of decomposition and the smell of rotting flesh was “over-powering”.

He added: “A number of animals that were found had plainly been dead for a number of days and as it turns out, some for many months.”

Julie Gray
Julie Gray

The court heard in one pen three severed hooves were found alongside the bodies of two other horses.

James Gray Sr was convicted of nine charges of causing unnecessary suffering to animals and two charges of failing to protect animals from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

His son James Gray Jr was convicted of identical charges although two were later overturned on appeal.

Gray’s wife, Julie, and daughters Cordelia and Jodie were found guilty of the two charges of failing to protect the animals.

No member of the family showed any sign of emotion as the judge passed sentence.

RSPCA inspector Kirsty Hampton described the conditions the horses were kept in as “grotesque”.

Speaking after the sentencing, Hampton said: “The RSPCA is pleased the district judge has recognised the extent of the cruelty, neglect and the suffering endured by the animals in this case.

“We see the disqualifications from keeping horses as an effective measure to prevent animals suffering in future.”

Sentencing:
James Gray Sr was sentenced to six months in prison and banned from keeping horses, ponies and donkeys for life. He was also ordered to pay £400,000. Gray was given a further two months after absconding from court. Two of Gray’s convictions were overturned in 2010, but Gray was ordered to pay £600,000 towards the RSPCA’s legal costs and faced financial ruin. A later appeal against what Gray claimed were disproportionate legal costs was rejected.

James Gray Junior was given an 18-month supervision order. He was banned from keeping equines for 10 years with right of appeal after five (ban expired June 2019).

Julie, Jodie and Cordelia Gray were each given 150 hours of community service. They were also banned from keeping equines for 10 years, with the right of appeal after five (bans expired June 2019).

Julie Gray was ordered to pay £750 in costs, and Cordelia Gray and Jodie Gray £500 each.

Horse and Hound

Additional information

Addresses as at late 2019:

James Gray and Cordelia Gray, 57 Narcot Road, Chalfont St Giles HP8 4DF
Julie Cordelia Gray, 15 Weller Road, Amersham HP6 6LQ
James Gray Jr, Chalk Hill Farm, Chalk Lane, Hyde Heath, Amersham HP6 5SA
Jodie June Gray (also known as Jodie Keet), 14 Middle Meadow, Chalfont St Giles HP8 4QS

Update September 2021

The Bucks Free Press reported that James Gray was let off £200,000-worth of fines due to bankruptcy.

Gray was ordered to pay more than £1million in fines and court costs and has served jail time since he was convicted of multiple animal welfare offences in 2008.

He attempted to appeal the convictions at London’s High Court in 2013, but although two of his 11 original convictions were overturned, he was ultimately unsuccessful and had another £200,000 added to his legal bill.

In August 2021, Gray, of 57 Narcot Road in Chalfont St Giles, had £223,453-worth of fines written off.

Documents attached to the court listing state that the amount was remitted due to Gray being bankrupt, having served prison time, and the RSPCA refusing the money.

In 2014, Gray was hauled back before the courts and was jailed for four-and-a-half years after he fleeced pensioners out of thousands of pounds for cowboy building works.

In an attempt to raise funds to pay off his fines and court costs, Gray conned an 88-year-old former British Library academic out of £20,000 for work which experts valued at just £150.

He drained £18,000 out of another 80-year-old victim’s account, leaving him with just £300 after repeatedly demanding money from him. This victim died just months after the money was found to be missing.

Gray, who had done this work under the fake name ‘Joseph De Paula’, admitted two counts of fraud by false representation before he was sentenced at Swindon Crown Court.

Animal Abandonment, Dogs, Lifers, rabbits, Small Furries, Worst of the Worst

Barnstaple, Devon: Marianne Stribling

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CONVICTED (2009) | Marianne Stribling aka Marianne Arkless, born 16/01/1981, of John Gay Close, Barnstaple EX32 8DB – locked two dogs in a garden shed to starve to death and failed to feed a rabbit

Marianne Stribling, who left two dogs and a rabbit to starve to death in her garden
Pet killer Marianne Stribling is banned for life from keeping animals but had already breached her ban just one year after her initial sentence

German shepherd Charm and a collie named Prince were left to died in agony over three weeks in Stribling’s back yard. All that remained of Prince was matted fur, teeth and bones. Charm had eaten his remains in desperation before she also starved to death.

The corpses of the two dogs were found in a tiny garden shed. No food or water was available and a fenced-off run in the yard was covered in dog faeces and mud.

An RSPCA inspector was forced to crawl through a kitchen window to get in to the yard, because Stribling had lost the back door key.

A rabbit was also found at the scene. She too had been starved and had to be put to sleep.

Stribling told magistrates she had credit card debts totalling between £20,000 and £30,000 and could not afford to buy food for the dogs – one of which was said to have been an unwanted gift.

She claimed she had been “vilified” and had received death threats.

Animal welfare protestors were out in force at Stribling’s trial and as she was led away to begin a three-month prison sentence a woman in the public gallery called her an “evil bitch”.

Stribling was also banned from keeping animals for life, but in November 2009, following a tip-off, the RSPCA discovered two eight-week old kittens at her home. Police had to be called when the inspector was abused by a neighbour of Stribling but the cats were eventually handed over.

Sentencing: 12 weeks in prison. Banned from keeping animals for life.

BBC News

Animal Abandonment, Cats, Dogs, Multiple Species

Brierley Hill, West Midlands: Jamie Lismore

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CONVICTED (2009) | Jamie Paul Lismore, born 11 August 1984, of 34 Bankwell Street*, Brierley Hill, Dudley DY5 1PW – abandoned his animals, leaving one starving cat to eat her own kittens.

Jamie Lismore
2015 photo of Jamie Lismore

Nine pets belonging to Jamie Lismore were left to die having been without food and water for at least one week. Three kittens aged just two weeks, were found dead at Lismore’s then home in The Avenue, Darlaston, while another young cat died despite the best efforts of RSPCA personnel to save her.

The young cats had become trapped in the kitchen alongside their three-year-old mother Maddie who had been so neglected she was rated as one on the body condition scoring system – which means emaciated.

Two of the kittens were dismembered, one dead and another was in such a bad way he had to be put down.

With the help of police, RSPCA inspector Deborah Scotcher managed to get inside the faeces-riddled property on July 9, 2008, where the animals appeared hungry and thirsty.

Lismore during his court appearance in February 2009

When assessed by vets the highest body score rating was three out of five for labrador, Major, who was around a year-old, while black and white collie Minstral, aged two, and tan mastiff cross-breed Duke, around eight months, rated just two. A three-month old cat called Patrick was also found.

It was only then the other cats, in the kitchen, were seen. Vets could not confirm if the kittens had died of starvation or were stillborn.

Lismore, who also has links to West Bromwich, admitted three charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and two of being a person responsible for an animal to ensure its welfare.

Mr Nick Sutton, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said: “This was a grave situation of abandonment.”

Mr Rob Perry, defending, said Lismore had been through a relationship breakdown at the time and was not regularly staying at the property. He said: “He is regretful and deeply sorry.”

Sentencing: 17 weeks in prison. Disqualified from keeping any animals for 25 years (expires 2034).

Express & Star

*Address correct as of August 2021.

dog fighting, Dogs, Lifers, Organised Animal Crime, Pet Profiteering, Serial Animal Abusers, Traveller Animal Crimes, Worst of the Worst

Walsall, West Midlands: Clayton Beard

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CONVICTED (2008) | dog fighter Clayton Paul Beard, born 2 May 1983, and as of June 2021 of The Beeches, Prospect Way, Birchills, Walsall WS2 7FD

Clayton Beard and one of the injured dogs found at his property

Clayton Beard, then of Cannon Street, Ryecroft, Walsall, had three dogs in his possession when RSPCA inspectors raided his home in 2007. Beard, whom locals nicknamed “the Dog Man”, admitted owning two male and one female pit bulls, causing unnecessary suffering to one of the dogs, possessing animal fighting equipment and keeping or training the dogs for fighting purposes.

A treadmill and other equipment was found at Beard’s home and the court heard how he forced his dogs through a cruel daily training schedule. A makeshift veterinary kit, which included superglue for sealing fighting wounds, was also discovered.

One dog, called Lee, had suffered 70 wounds. Another two animals also had 35 wounds and 24 wounds each.

Magistrates ordered two dogs to be destroyed immediately.

The case was the first dog fighting prosecution under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, according to the RSPCA.

Clayton Beard was convicted of dog fighting offences

Magistrate Michael Kearns said a custodial sentence had been “inevitable”.

He told Beard that he had three “highly dangerous dogs of an aggressive breed” in his possession.

The three dogs had received many wounds “over a prolonged period which must have caused them suffering”, but Beard had made “no effort” to seek veterinary attention for them.

Instead, Beard had been involved in treating the animals’ wounds so that they could fight again, the court heard.

The court heard that Beard was a man of “limited cognitive ability” who had received “abuse” from his neighbours.

Speaking outside court, Chief Inspector Ian Briggs, of the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit, said he was “extremely pleased” with the custodial sentence and ban.

He said: “People involved in these activities should not be able to own animals.”

He said that animal protection bodies had welcomed the new offences of possessing articles adapted for training animals to fight, and keeping animals in connection with fighting.

He said: “We always come across these articles on dog fighting operations, but before it’s never been an offence.”

Sentencing: 18 weeks in custody. Banned for life from keeping or being responsible for any animals.

Birmingham Mail
Express & Star
BBC News

Additional information

In November 2007 an Irish traveller named Ceri Louisa O’Neill, also from Birchills in Walsall, was banned from keeping dogs for three years after admitting selling the pit bull terrier known as Lee to Clayton Beard.

James Cooper, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told the court the offences came to light when an inspector and police officers visited Beard’s home following a tip-off.

Mr Cooper told the court the inquiry then moved to Miner Street, where O’Neill lived at the time with adult sons James and Patrick O’Neill and daughter Astar Louise O’Neill.

He said: “The defendant accepted the dog had been in her possession and that she took it to Beard to be treated by him and in fact sold it to him for £100.”

When pit bull expert Jane Robson examined Lee there was evidence of more than 45 wounds, scabs on his face, head, chest and legs. Some were four to six weeks old.

Mr Stephen Scully, defending, said: “Earlier this year her ex-husband brought the dog as a gift. He told her he rescued it from fighting.”

He said when the couple split the dog was left in her care. She took him to Beard later that day after the animal was involved in a “scrap” with other dogs in Pelsall after her daughter took him to a fair without her permission.

Ceri Louise O’Neill is now deceased.

As of June 2021 Astar O’Neill, born 24 July 1991, lives at the Caravan Site, Ruthin Road, Coedpoeth, Wrexham LL11 3BP.

animal fighting / baiting, badger baiting, Dogs, hunting with dogs, Organised Animal Crime, Wildlife Crime / Bloodsports

Mid-Wales: badger baiters Simon Evans and Peter McGuigan

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CONVICTED (2008) | Simon Evans, born 4 December 1967, of Pencader, Carmarthenshire, and Peter William McGuigan, born 14 May 1970 of  Moelhedog Isaf,  Pontsian, Llandysul SA44 4UB – caught badger-baiting with dogs

Badger baiters Simon Evans (left) and Peter William McGuigan from Pencader and Llandysul respectively
Badger baiters Simon Evans (left) and Peter McGuigan

Evans and McGuigan went equipped with dogs, nets and tracking devices to hunt badgers in October 2006.

A nearby landowner heard a commotion and called police.

When officers arrived a limp badger was found in the mouth of a lurcher dog belonging to them and a metre-deep hole had been dug close to a badger sett.

It was claimed the men had flushed out a badger and then watched for sport as their dogs fought it.

The pair were found guilty of four out of five charges brought by the RSPCA.

Badger baiter Simon Evans from Pencader, Wales. Picture: Facebook
Simon Evans

Sentencing the duo, district judge Mark Layton said the matters were so serious only a custodial sentence was justified.

He said the only explanation as to why they had gone badger baiting at woodland near Boncath, Pembrokeshire, on 14 October 2006 was “for some sort of enjoyment”.

But he said how anyone could enjoy such “sickening and appalling acts of cruelty” was “quite incomprehensible”.

Sentencing: six-month suspended jail sentence;  240 hours of community work. £4,000 each in costs. Banned from keeping dogs for seven years (expired April 2015).

BBC News