CONVICTED (2024) | wildlife killers Thomas Graham Michael Lloyd, born 28 December 1986, of Slaidburn Drive, Lancaster LA1 4QX; Jay Stuart Jones born 5 March 1987, of Barley Cop Lane, Lancaster LA1 2PP; and Steven Dixon, born 9 November 1983 of 63 Keswick Road, Lancaster LA1 3LF – for sadistic cruelty towards multiple deer and at least one badger.
Tom Lloyd (left) and Jay Jones were both sent to prison for serious wildlife offences
The sadistic trio were all convicted of a range of wildlife offences, including cutting a deer’s throat and restraining a deer to enable dogs to attack it.
Tom Lloyd was the ringleader of the sick gang of criminals
Tom Lloyd pleaded guilty to four offences of causing unnecessary suffering to deer and a badger, with videos showing the deer’s neck being stood on to enable dogs to attack the animal, and the deer’s throat being cut repeatedly. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison and was disqualified from keeping dogs for life.
Jay Jones pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a deer by restraining the animal to allow dogs to attack it. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison and was disqualified from keeping dogs for six years.
Steven Dixon pleaded guilty to one offence of causing unnecessary suffering to a deer by repeatedly cutting its throat. He was sentenced to 17 months in prison which was suspended for 12 months. He was also ordered to complete 20 rehabilitation days, a six-month mental health programme and 100 hours of unpaid work.
One man was caught on camera slashing a terrified deer’s throatOther videos showed dogs being set upon a badger and a deer
In February 2022, Lancashire Police seized a mobile phone from Jay Jones which revealed videos showing wildlife offences and the RSPCA were called to assist.
The charity’s Special Operations Unit (SOU) worked with police who executed warrants at premises occupied by all three defendants in May 2022.
Two dogs of the four seized from backyard breeders Tom Lloyd and Jay Jones were pregnant
Four dogs were seized: a black lurcher called Hector and a tan and white lurcher, called Chanelle from Lloyd; and a dark brindle lurcher, called Blaze, and a grey merle lurcher, called Dixie, from Jones.
Dixie and Chanelle were both pregnant and had puppies in the RSPCA’s care.
A number of videos showed the cruelty inflicted on deer and a badger.
A written statement, presented to the court in an expert witness report said: “The videos presented have been produced in darkness with the use of a lamp to illuminate the activity of a number of lurcher type dogs pursuing and attacking deer and a badger.
“Two videos indicate a male person to have repeatedly stabbed and cut the skin of the animal’s neck causing further suffering via the mechanism of pain while already being attacked by dogs.”
In one of the videos, Lloyd, who is filming, says: ‘Here we are lads, got a stag’, and shows a deer that has been caught being attacked by dogs.
Later in the video, one of the men can be seen holding the deer’s head while he cuts its throat with a knife.
RSPCA SOU officer Jason Bowles, who led the investigation, said, after sentencing: “We investigate some horrific cases and, sadly, see animals suffering truly gruesome acts at the hands of people.
“The videos in this case are yet another example of the barbaric torture that we regularly see being inflicted upon wildlife we should all be trying to protect and help.
“Sadly, people who enjoy these hideous pastimes continue to offend across the picturesque, rural countryside of England and Wales. “But the RSPCA will not rest in bringing people like these to justice.”
Tom Lloyd’s feral offspring are doomed to turn out just like their evil father
Sergeant James Pinder, who led the warrants and searches for Lancashire Police, said: “The guilty pleas in this case were entered/im after a two year-long, detailed investigation by the RSPCA and Lancashire Police’s West Division Rural Task Force. I’d firstly like to praise the thoroughness and tenacity of those investigators.
“The extremely graphic nature of the many videos recovered shocked all who worked on the case.
“I welcome the sentences imposed and hope they send a clear message to those people who would seek to commit similar offences. “I would encourage anyone with information about the illegal persecution of wildlife to report it by calling 1010, or anonymously by calling Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.”
Blaze, Chanelle (and her nine puppies), and Dixie (plus her seven puppies) can all now be rehomed.
Hector will remain in RSPCA care subject to a further court hearing regarding his ownership.
CONVICTED (2024) | notorious puppy farmer Eugene Daly, born 6 April 1982, of 88 Derryfubble Road, Dungannon BT71 7PW – transported very young and unwell puppies from Northern Ireland to Great Britain.
Company director Eugene Daly, operator of a dog breeding establishment (DBE) licensed for over 200 dogs by Mid-Ulster Council, was fined after admitting to a charge of ‘transporting a dog not fit for the journey’. The paperwork held by Daly was also inaccurate and fraudulent.
Daly, sole director of Hillside Kennels Ltd and Daly Transport Ltd, was prosecuted after a consignment of his puppies was stopped and examined at Belfast Port.
Puppy farmer and transporter Eugene Daly is pictured with dog groomer girlfriend Sandra Millar who is alleged to sell puppies on his behalf
The case arose as part of Operation Paws for Thought, a multi-agency initiative led by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) aimed at clamping down on the low-welfare trafficking of puppies between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Checks carried out on exports made by Daly discovered that destination addresses held for the puppies were false.
Veterinary examination of the puppies found that some of them were not eight weeks old.
Many seemed poorly socialised, had extended tummies and a pot-bellied appearance consistent with worm infestation.
The bedding in the cages appeared wet and quite heavily soiled. This contradicted Daly’s assertion that the puppies had only been loaded less than two hours previously.
Daly pleaded guilty and was fined £400 plus £15 offender levy.
Daly’s partner is Sandra Millar of Stiloga Road, Eglish, Dungannon BT71 7QH. According to the anti puppy farming campaign group Do Better DoneDeal Millar, a dog groomer trading under the name Happy Tails, sells farmed puppies on her boyfriend’s behalf, while lying that they are home-bred.
CONVICTED (2024) | Stephen Buxton of the Breach Cottage, Breach Lane, Sudbury, Ashbourne DE6 5HH, Susan Heath of 61 Foss Road, Hilton, Derby DE65 5BJ, and Oliver Lucas of Sudbury Park, Sudbury, Ashbourne DE6 5HU – ran an unlicensed puppy farm on which 28 dogs and puppies were kept in filthy and unsanitary conditions.
Susan Heath and Stephen BuxtonOliver Lucas
In 2020 officers from South Derbyshire District Council were notified that dogs were being bred at the family home of Stephen Buxton without the necessary breeding licence. When council officers contacted Buxton, he denied this but was reminded of the legal obligations.
In 2021 council officers received intelligence that dogs were being sold on social media by owners using different names, but all based at Buxton’s address. A court warrant was obtained by the council and officers visited the premises on June 7, 2022.
A total of 28 adult dogs and pups were found in agricultural buildings at the site.
Conditions were found to be cluttered and dirty, with extensive faecal and urine contamination. The premises was infested with flies and a dead rat was sighted .
The odour in the building was described as overpowering.
All of the dogs at the site were observed to be anxious, wary and in some cases afraid of contact with humans.
Using powers granted under animal welfare legislation, council officers seized the dogs and transported them to a local kennels. Veterinary examination determined that they had all been neglected for a lengthy period
Three weeks after the warrant, all of the dogs were signed over to the legal control of the local authority.
All of the animals were returned to full health and were found permanent homes.
Following the council’s investigation, three people were charged with offences relating to unauthorised breeding of dogs and animal welfare offences. All three pleaded guilty to these offences.
Stephen Buxton admitted one offence of causing unnecessary suffering, nine offences of failing to ensure welfare and two offences of breeding without a licence. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 190 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £114 victim surcharge and £5,000 contribution towards the prosecution costs.
Oliver Lucas admitted two offences of causing unnecessary suffering, three offences of failing to ensure welfare and one offence of breeding without a licence. He was sentenced to a 12-month community order with 100 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay a £114 victim surcharge and £2,000 contribution to the prosecution costs.
Susan Heath pleaded guilty to breeding without a licence and was fined £180. She was also ordered to pay a £72 victim surcharge and £400 towards the prosecution costs.
District Judge Flint remarked that they had prioritised money over animal welfare and should be ashamed of the conditions in which they kept the dogs. . He held Buxton as most responsible and the chief protagonist, as it was his property and he clearly knew that he should have been licensed. The judge commented that if he had been found guilty after trial, he would have looked at sending him to prison.
CONVICTED (2024) | Richard Loveridge, born 2 December 2004, of Stonebow Road, Drakes Broughton, Pershore WR10 2AP – for kicking a cat.
Richard Loveridge
Loveridge, a traveller, admitted animal cruelty in relation to a cat named Fefe. The cat’s condition was not reported. The incident took place in Kidderminster on June 28, 2023.
The charge he admitted reads: “Cause unnecessary suffering to a protected animal – namely the cat, by an act, namely kicking, and you knew or ought reasonably to have known that the act would have that effect or be likely to do so.”
Sentencing | one-year community order with 30 rehabilitation activity requirement days; fined £40 and ordered to pay £50 in compensation and £114 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2024) | convicted child rapist Benjamin Thomas, born c. 1991, most recently of a holiday park in Looe, Cornwall, but originally from the West Midlands – went on the run and left his cats behind to starve.
In 2012 at Worcester Crown Court Thomas was jailed for five years and made subject to a sexual harm order after being convicted of child rape.
Following his release he has failed on numerous occasions to adhere to the terms of his sex offenders registration which oblige him to keep police informed of any change of address.
In June 2023 Thomas was living in a flat in Lancashire with his girlfriend but vacated the property after falling behind on rent, leaving two cats behind.
When contacted by the property manager, he explained there’d been a bereavement and claimed he had returned to feed the cats. However, when the property manager attended there was no sign anybody had returned and the cats were feeding off scraps. The pets were taken into RSPCA care.
Thomas had fled to Cornwall but was soon apprehended by police and charged with failure to comply with notification requirements as a sex offender between August and December 2023.
Representing Thomas, Barry Hilliard said his client “made an error of judgement”.
Sentencing Thomas, Recorder Richard Stead said Thomas has “numerous previous convictions for failing to comply”.
He added: “You seem to fail to understand the extreme seriousness of the first offence of rape and reasons you’re subject to the requirements of the sex offenders’ register. If you did you’d ensure you provided police with the new address when you moved.”
CONVICTED (2024) | Joseph Fogg, born c. 1984, of South Parade, Pensarn, Abergele LL22 7RH – kicked a dog with force during a domestic violence incident.
Fogg admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal alongside charges of assault by beating, using threatening behaviour, criminal damage to property and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Prosecuting, Thomas McLoughlin told the court that, at about 5.30pm in Rhyl on October 2, 2023, Fogg pushed a woman, bruising her and causing her to fall to the floor.
Fogg then kicked a dog with such force that she retreated and urinated.
He then caused roughly £1,100 of damage to the woman’s mobile phone, rendering it unusable.
While carrying the child, the woman was then punched on multiple occasions by Fogg, though one of his blows struck the child in the face instead.
The woman suffered swelling, bruising and cuts, and both she and the child suffered reddening under their eyes.
After the woman told Fogg that he had hit the child, he replied: “I’ll do it again.”
Defending Fogg, who had 16 previous convictions for 23 offences, but none for violent matters since 2012, Jade Tufail asked if the court could consider suspending his custodial sentence.
She said he has been “out of trouble” for three years, and suffers from mental health issues and alcoholism – though he “hasn’t touched a drink since the incident,” she added.
Ms Tufail described Fogg as “not somebody who is without hope”.
Sentencing, Judge Nicola Saffman deemed Fogg’s offences too serious for immediate custody to be avoided.
“You were clearly intoxicated,” she told Fogg, who spent much of the hearing weeping and with his head in his hands.
Judge Saffman added: “In my judgment, this is a matter where only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate.”
Sentencing | two-year custodial. No mention of a ban.
CONVICTED (2024) | Kyle Hollingsworth, born 21 June 1991, of Moor Street Mansfield – repeatedly punched and kicked a police dog.
Lifelong thug Kyle Hollingsworth was jailed after kicking and punching a police dog
Violent career criminal and drug addict Hollingsworth was reported to police after he broke into a woman’s back garden in Gladstone Street, Mansfield, and began banging on windows.
A dog officer on routine patrol attended the scene at around 9.30pm on 27 October 2023 and challenged Hollingsworth in the street. Hollingsworth, who was carrying a large bottle at the time, refused to comply with instructions from the officer and approached her.
PD Max wasn’t badly injured and soon returned to police duties
Doing his job, Police Dog Max bit the thug on the hand and stomach.
Hollingsworth then lashed out at at the dog and continued to punch and kick him even after he was taken to the floor.
Hollingsworth was arrested at the scene and later pleaded guilty to criminal damage, affray and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The court heard Hollingsworth has 44 previous convictions for 100 offences, including criminal damage, threats and abusive behaviour. He was last before the courts in 2022 for dwelling burglary and a string of thefts
Max, a two-year-old German shepherd who already has an impressive service history, escaped serious injury in the attack and is now back on the beat.
CONVICTED (2024) | Mark Williams, born 13 July 1985, of The Deanes, Tiverton EX16 5GT – kicked his partner’s pet chihuahua and threw him 20 feet across a room.
Williams, who was once hailed as a hero after jumping into a canal to rescue a dog in distress, became so angry that he punched his own television and partially throttled his girlfriend before venting his rage on her tiny dog. The attack took place in the presence of a four-year-old boy.
Nigel Wraith, prosecuting, said Williams had been in a volatile on-off relationship with the woman for some time. She was living at his home on March 31, 2023, when an argument started after he returned home drunk.
Teacup chihuahua Smoothie was severely injured in the drink-fuelled attack but survived
He became jealous, threw her mobile telephone against a wall, punched and broke his television and put one hand around her throat, obstructing her airway and leaving her gasping for breath.
He then kicked her teacup chihuahua, Smoothie, before picking the dog up and throwing her out of the living room and into the kitchen where she hit the oven door and could be heard yelping in pain.
The owner reckoned Williams threw the dog the distance of three small cars parked end to end.
The dog suffered injuries to her jaw and hips.
Williams admitted intentional strangulation and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Williams’ lawyer Evie Dean said her client was addressing his use of alcohol and seeking help for “mental health issues”.
Sentencing | jailed for 14 months, suspended for two years; 120-day alcohol abstinence tag; relationship course; 120 hours of unpaid community work. No ban.
CONVICTED (2024) | pet hoarder Anita J Cross, born 1958, of Tilgarsley Road, Eynsham, Witney, OX29 4PP – ordered to give up seven dogs, 14 cats and two kittens under animal welfare legislation.
Cross appeared at Oxford Magistrates Court on January 15, 2024, after an application was made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 to remove several animals from her.
The application was made under section 18(15) which authorises an inspector or constable to take a protected animal into possession where a veterinary surgeon certifies that it is suffering or is likely to suffer.
After the hearing, it was ordered that the animals be removed and administered treatment. There were seven dogs, 14 cats, and two kittens.
Cross was also ordered to pay West Oxfordshire District Council £1,000 for the veterinary intervention costs.
