CONVICTED (2021) | Paul Boath, born 2 August 1967, of 20 Willoughby Court, Mansfield NG18 4LR – kicked a small dog and threw her over a fence; failed to get treatment for her injuries.
Paul Boath was banned from keeping animals for life after kicking and throwing elderly Cavalier King Charles spaniel Milly over a fence
Paul Boath was disqualified from keeping animals for the rest of his life and sentenced to a 26-week suspended sentence following a prosecution brought by the RSPCA.
Boath was found guilty of causing elderly Cavalier King Charles spaniel Milly unnecessary suffering by the infliction of blunt force trauma and physical violence.
He admitted failing to provide the dog with the proper and necessary veterinary care and attention for the causes of her chronic pain.
Witnesses told the court they had seen Boath kick Milly then throw her over the fence outside his house.
RSPCA Inspector Rachel Leafe, who led the investigation for the animal welfare charity, said: “Boath failed to get any veterinary treatment for Milly’s pain and she had been crying for a week and a half.
“When she was taken to a vet Milly was crying all the time, especially when the right side of her face and right side of her abdomen were touched. Her level of pain was so bad that vets used methadone to make her comfortable. X-rays were taken and revealed she had rib fractures.
The veterinary report said she ‘appeared to be painful or reactive to touching, yelping especially when touched along her right jawbone and later along her lumber vertebral region’.
Despite receiving extensive veterinary care and treatment, sadly Milly later suffered heart failure and was unable to breathe so vets made the difficult decision to put her to sleep.
Sentencing: 26 weeks’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months; 10 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days; Alcohol Treatment Requirement; £872 in costs and charges. Banned from keeping animals until further notice.
CONVICTED (2021) | Babatundi ‘Baba’ Edwards, born 9 December 1991, of Pinxton Court, Mansfield NG18 3RS – slammed a helpless dog to the ground before launching a sustained and vicious attack on him.
Father-of-three Babatundi Edwards was caught on camera attacking Staffordshire bull terrier Bandit.
The court heard how the dog ran out of a block of flats on Pinxton Court and hid under bushes, cowering and shaking, while Edwards shouted for him to come back.
Bandit slunk back, low to the ground and appeared to be terrified before Edwards grabbed him, lifted him above his head and threw him ‘forcefully’ to the ground where he landed on his head and back.
Edwards then jumped on the dog, punched and kicked him ‘multiple times’ and attempted to strangle him, before returning to his flat.
The incident was filmed by a neighbour after she heard Bandit’s terrified yelps. The court heard the neighbour had been concerned about the dog’s welfare for some time.
A vet said the impact of being hurled to the floor could have broken the dog’s neck – and kicking him could have been fatal.
Summing up, the prosecutor said that Edwards was “clearly not fit to be responsible for any animal of any sort. It was a prolonged course of violent behaviour.”
When interviewed by police, Edwards said: “Bandit didn’t know how to be a dog.” adding that the dog’s training wasn’t going well.
Abbie Edwards, mitigating, said her client had no previous convictions and there had been no offences since. His other dog , Roxi, was taken from him.
“There is simply no justification for this offence and Mr Edwards recognises that. He deeply regrets his actions.”
She said he owned his own dog for many years with no issues, but a friend asked him to look after Bandit and then failed to reclaim him.
Edwards admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Sentencing: 18-week custodial sentence, suspended for two years, with 10 rehabilitation days to tackle his anger management issues; £205 in costs and charges. Disqualified from keeping all animals for 10 years (expires April 2031).
#MostEvil | Charlene Elaine Latham, born 22 March 1988, of Wild Wood B&B, 15 St Brannocks Road, Ilfracombe EX34 8EG – tried to drown a dog in a freezing river
Charlene Latham with Leigh Johnson
Charlene Latham pleaded guilty to attempting to drown elderly Belgian shepherd Bella in the the River Trent near Lincoln.
The dog’s lead was attached to a carrier bag tied to a large rock. She was rescued by passer-by Jane Harper after she was discovered struggling and submerged in the water near Long Lane in Farndon near Newark on January 6, 2020.
Elderly Bella was thrown into a freezing river to die
Latham, then of Newark, Nottinghamshire, was arrested by police alongside partner Leigh Craig Johnson, born 28 November 1987, previously of Worksop and now of 35 Yew Tree Road, Retford DN22 8AY. Johnson denied the charge and the case against him was discontinued.
The RSPCA were criticised for not pursuing the case against Leigh Johnson despite Latham naming him in her statement as the person that had thrown the dog into the river. The charity determined that there was insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction against Johnson, so magistrates agreed to the withdrawal of the charge against him.
After being widely named on social media in the aftermath of the incident, Johnson and Latham were escorted from their Newark home by poli and into hiding in a Devon B&B, such was the public revulsion at what had happened to Bella.
The couple were jointly charged with the attempted drowning of Bella on January 6, 2020.
Harry Bowyer, prosecuting, said Bella was found by dog walkers at around 8.20am with her head on a concrete plinth with the rest of her body submerged in the freezing January waters. A portion of her lead was attached around her neck to an Aldi bag containing a rock weighing 34.7kg that had weighted her to the river bed.
A dog walker waded into the river to pull Bella out. At the vets, her temperature was too low for a thermometer to read.
She was also found to be underweight and had a matted coat.
Mr Bowyer said police attended Latham’s address and she opened the door, phone in hand, to say that she was just ringing the police as Bella was missing.
Latham’s daughter told police that her mother and mother’s partner had gone out the previous evening at 9.20pm with Bella, but she was unable to say whether the dog returned with them.
Latham was borrowing a friend’s car at the time and found in it was the remainder of the severed lead that had been used to weigh Bella down.
Mr Chignell, mitigating for Latham, said his client was five months pregnant at the time and could not have thrown Bella into the river herself.
Latham had pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity on the basis of a failure to safeguard Bella’s welfare rather than any involvement in her attempted drowning. Mr Chignell described what happened to Bella at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court as an awful case and awful treatment of an animal and genuine unpleasant cruelty, but not cruelty by her.
“Her role was limited,” he said.
He said Johnson and Latham had driven to the river but Latham had no idea what Johnson intended to do and had begged him not to drown Bella.
“I am concerned to hear the RSPCA is not proceeding against the person she named in her statement,” he said
“The RSPCA, it appears now have decided that they are not going to try him as they are not obtaining the evidence to try him.
“The case was adjourned so he could have his trial.”
Of Johnson, he said: “He is someone who is aggressive and controlling in that relationship, she’s not.
“These are very different people with very different roles.
“As a result only one person is going to take the fall for this.
“The reality is the person convicted of this heinous offence is not here and that’s not her fault.”
Mr Chignell said his client accepted she should have got immediate help for Bella when she went back to the car or afterwards.
He argued his client had suffered greatly already as a result of the abuse she had suffered on social media and suggested a conditional discharge.
The 11-year-old dog has remained at the RSPCA Radcliffe Animal Centre in Nottingham since the incident as she has complex veterinary needs.
She has however been completely transformed from the dog who almost didn’t make it to the bouncy elderly girl she is now.
Ella Carpenter, manager at Radcliffe Animal Centre said after the case that they are now desperate to find Bella a loving new home.
The home would need to be in the vicinity of the Radcliffe Centre.
Ella said: “We are both proud and privileged to have cared for Bella over the past fourteen months.
“At times we thought she just wouldn’t make it, with her age and underlying health conditions all against her. But Bella has fought every day, showing enviable strength and courage, not wanting to give up her fight to recover.
“We hope that she will now be able to live out the rest of her life with the love and respect that she has always deserved and are looking for that special forever home for Bella.”
The incident prompted over 165,000 people to call for tougher sentences and justice for Bella.
Sentencing | 12-month community order; ordered to pay a total of £312. Disqualified from keeping dogs for three years (expires March 2024).
CONVICTED (2019) | Paul G Robinson, born c. 1969, of Hill Farm, Harby Lane, Plungar, Nottingham NG13 0JH – for the severe neglect of pigs, cattle and sheep.
Robinson was visited by Trading Standards officers after a member of the public contacted them about the conditions his animals were being kept in.
When they arrived at Hill Farm, they found pigs were living in darkness and one ewe was not getting enough food to produce milk for her undernourished lamb.
Officers from the RSPCA attended the same day and they immediately took all 27 cattle and 46 pigs from the 20-acre farm for welfare reasons.
The sheep, goats, chickens and other animals were left on the farm.
Robinson pleaded guilty to 16 charges relating to the cattle, pigs and sheep.
But magistrates agreed to a ban that only included pigs and cattle.
While some of the offences he admitted were for causing suffering to his livestock, others related to failures to properly tag animals, notify the government about animal purchases and deaths and following codes of practice.
Adam Clemens, prosecuting on behalf of Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards, said: “The cattle and pigs had insufficient feed and the sheep had for the most part no feed.
“A third of the pens had no water and cattle were thin.”
He said pig carcasses were seen lying among the pigs while sheep carcasses had been burned.
Six further visits were made to the farm by the Trading Standards officers.
When Robinson was interviewed by Trading Standards the answers he gave were “cause for concern”, Mr Clemens said.
He said Robinson had never read any codes of practice farmers should follow, and did not think animals needed access to food and water at all times.
When asked about the burned lamb carcasses, Robinson said he believed his dogs had dragged the dead animals onto a bonfire, although he later pleaded guilty to burning four lamb carcasses.
Robinson told the interviewers he cleaned the animal sheds out every three to six months and saw no problem with the way the animals were being kept.
Mr Clemens said there had been many other concerns about the farm in recent years.
There was not a single year between 2012 and 2017 Trading Standards did not visit the farm and Mr Clemens said had no information about years prior to 2012 because the records were not available.
Kim Lee, representing Robinson, said his client had always been “less than a junior partner” to his father who “would rule the farm with a rod of iron”.
He said his client had been “overwhelmed” since his father’s death a year ago and was also struggling to look after his mother, who suffers from dementia.
Meanwhile, the farm was making a loss of about £3,000 per year, he said.
Mr Lee said: “This is a man who recognises the error of his ways and has taken steps to address the errors of the past.
“His financial situation is precarious. It’s no life. There’s no profit.”
Mr Lee asked the magistrates not to ban Robinson from keeping all animals so that he could continue as a farmer.
He said: “It’s all he’s known – man and boy.”
He said his client would not mind being banned from keeping pigs and cattle and would reduce the number of sheep on his farm from 81 to no more than 50.
Sentencing: six-month jail sentence suspended for two years; ordered to pay total of £2,115 costs and charges. Lifetime ban on keeping pigs and cattle.
CONVICTED (2019) | Scott Weatherer, born c. 1975, of Highfield Road, Clipstone Village, Mansfield NG21 – carried out a “horrible attack” on a cocker spaniel.
Dog abuser Scott Weatherer
Weatherer appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on Monday, May 20 , 2019 charged with causing “unnecessary suffering to a protected animal” in relation to a spaniel named Bella.
The incident which was described as “a horrible attack”, took place on December 22, 2018 in Bassingham Fen, near Aubourn.
Magistrates treated the offence “as a one off incident” on the grounds that Weatherer was of previous good character and had, apparently, looked after dogs well up to that point.
Sentencing | 18-week prison sentence suspended for 18 months. Costs and charges totalling £615. Banned from keeping animals for ten years (expires June 2029).
CONVICTED (2019) | Lisa Featherstone, born 10 July 1978, of Perlethorpe Avenue, Gedling NG4 4GG – kept starving dogs in horrific conditions
Featherstone admitted cruelty to her pet dogs Diesel and Rocky, one of whom was found close to death.
The court heard RSPCA inspector Dave MacAdam visited Featherstone’s home on December 6, 2018.
He had been told of problems faced by German Shepherd Rocky, who was kept in the muddy back garden.
Paul Wright, prosecuting, said: “The dog was in such a bad state that there was a risk of dying.”
Featherstone allowed the inspector into the house where he found Staffordshire bull terrier Diesel inside a wire cage.
“It was immediately seen to be in a poor condition. Its ribs and spine were prominent through a short coat,” said Mr Wright.
The dogs were taken to a vet who assessed them on a scale of one to five, with one being regarded as “emaciated” and three the normal standard for a healthy dog. Rocky was classed as “emaciated” and Diesel was one level better.
“This was down to malnutrition, an inadequate diet for at least one month,” Mr Wright told the court.
But in another month, both dogs had made a good recovery and their condition was normal. Rocky’s weight had risen by 60 per cent and Diesel’s had increased by 25 per cent.
Matthew Smith, mitigating, said: “In many ways, this is a sad case and there is no excuse from Miss Featherstone, simply an explanation.
“This is born out of an inability to cope with financial hardship rather than deliberate neglect of those dogs.
“She cut corners with feeding them and she accepts that. Whilst the dogs were fed, they were not fed enough and not given food of sufficient quality.
“Both have been loved family pets,” added Mr Smith, who applied for their return to her home.
He said Featherstone “rescued” Diesel nine years ago from a pub where she worked. She had Rocky for two years.
But District Judge Tim Spruce refused to allow the dogs to go back, telling Featherstone: “I can’t take the risk against the background of your current situation that the dogs would not be neglected again.”
As part of the probation order, she will get help in “problem solving, finances, relationships and emotions”.
Sentencing | one year’s probation; total of £235 costs and charges. Banned from keeping any dog for a mere six months (expired).
CONVICTED (2018) | Reece Stephen Donohue (aka James Stephen Donohue), born 28/03/1993, of 55 Wharton Street, Retford DN22 7EH – kicked his housemate’s beloved cat to death
Former special constable Reece Donohue eventually admitted kicking two-year-old cat Marley to death, after initially claiming he had been attacked by another cat in the house. That cat, named Milo, was found hiding in the property.
Marley’s owner Amanda Attwood discovered blood splattered on the walls and furnishings after she returned to the home she shared with Donohue.
Marley’s owner was horrified to find blood splattered on walls and furniture
She was then horrified to discover her pet’s dead body lying on the floor.
A post-mortem carried out on Marley showed he had been kicked multiple times in the head and had suffered a brain haemorrhage.
He also suffered a broken jaw and had been kicked in the stomach and lungs.
His kidneys and intestines had also haemorrhaged.
A post-mortem on Marley’s body showed he had suffered multiple injuries
Amanda had only lived with Donohue for a few weeks, having moved in at the end of March 2018. She left straight after the incident.
Amanda said: “Marley was such a loving cat, he would always want to get everyone’s attention when people would see him.”
Amanda Attwood with her beloved pet cat Marley, who was brutally killed by former special constable Reece Donohue
Donohue pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cat by subjecting him to unnecessary physical violence which led to his death.
The court heard the offence happened after Donohue had been drinking and that he had tried to cover up the offence.
Sentencing:12-week prison term, suspended for 12 months. 150 hours of unpaid work. Banned from owning or keeping animals for life.
CONVICTED (2018) | Tony Peck, born c. 1976, and wife Helen Peck, born c. 1965, both of Southchurch Drive, Clifton, Nottingham NG11 – kept their four cats in filthy and cramped conditions at their home.
Tony and Helen Peck pleaded guilty to three Animal Welfare Act offences after their four flea-infested cats were found living in squalor.
Shocking pictures show cluttered rooms littered with cans of cat food piled several feet in the air, almost to the ceiling.
The court was told the RSPCA was contacted by a member of the public who raised concerns about conditions the cats were living in.
A warrant was obtained by the police after the RSPCA was unable to gain access to the property to check on the animals’ welfare.
RSPCA inspector Susan Hammond and the police entered the house on January 18, 2018 and were shocked at the conditions.
Conditions inside the Pecks’ filthy house.
Inspector Hammond said: “Two of the cats were in one bedroom and the remaining two were in a separate bedroom – both rooms had faeces and urine everywhere and the smell was incredibly strong.
“One of the rooms had approximately 300 empty cat food tins in it and it is lucky that these tins didn’t injure the cats.
“There were flies everywhere and the cats were riddled with fleas.
“The conditions they were living in were far from ideal – not only was it filled with rubbish, but there was little ventilation and light.
“Both Tony and Helen Peck knew the cats had fleas but rather than seeking vet treatment, they tried to treat this themselves using lemon juice and olive oil – an idea they had got from the internet.
“Keeping animals in these conditions is not acceptable, nor is it OK to try and treat your pets yourself using advice from the internet instead of taking them to a vet.
“These poor cats were covered in fleas and suffered as a result.”
The four cats – tortoiseshell Minnie, tabby Hettie, ginger cat Ollie and cream cat Logan – have now been signed into the RSPCA’s care where they will be put up for rehoming.
While they have been banned from keeping animals for three years, Magistrates gave Tony and Helen Peck permission to keep two budgies.
Sentencing: banned from keeping animals for three years (expired 2021).
CONVICTED (2018) | Son Van Huynh, born 20/08/1965, and Hai Huynh, born 02/02/1996, both of 11 Kildare Road, Nottingham NG3 3AF – for the severe neglect of three dogs, all of whom had to be euthanised
Vietnamese nationals Son Van Huynh and his son Hai Huynh pleaded guilty to eight Animal Welfare Act offences between them, relating to the neglect of three dogs.
The court heard that the RSPCA became involved in August 2017 after a neighbour contacted the animal welfare charity about a “high-pitched whining” which was coming from the garden of the house.
When RSPCA inspector Susan Hammond arrived at the house, she found that the high-pitched whining was coming from a Japanese Akita dog, named Skye, who had collapsed and was covered in maggots.
There was a second dog also in the garden, a German Shepherd called Gino, and a third dog, a shih tzu called Miko, was inside the house living in a poor environment. None of the dogs had access to an adequate supply of fresh water.
Skye’s multiple wounds were infested with maggots.
Inspector Hammond said: “Skye was in such a poor condition and had collapsed, she wasn’t able to stand at all. Her high-pitched crying was evident that she was suffering a great deal. She had open wounds on her body which were covered in maggots – her skin was rotting away and she was being eaten alive.
Unforgivable neglect: Skye had to be immediately put to sleep on welfare grounds.
“Myself and the vet who accompanied me on the visit to the house were really saddened by Skye’s state and she was put to sleep on humane grounds.”
Gino and Miko were taken to a vets, where examination showed that Gino was suffering from tumours on his foot and anus. The vet made the difficult decision to put him to sleep on welfare grounds.
Sadly, Miko was put to sleep by a vet after he was aggressive and attacked a member of staff at an RSPCA centre.
“This is a very sad case which was the result of a long period of neglect. Hai was responsible for the dogs’ welfare while his dad was away, but they had already been suffering prior to this,” added Inspector Hammond.
Warehouse worker Hai Huynh’s excuse for his callous cruelty towards three helpless dogs was that he was working on a dissertation as part of a degree course at Nottingham Trent University.
Presiding magistrate Caroline Exton told the pair: “We find there was greater harm and higher culpability because of the death and suffering caused to the three animals over a very prolonged period of neglect.
“You were both in a position of responsibility of care for these dogs. Both of you omitted to obtain veterinary care. You are equally culpable.”
Although the animal ban was imposed without a finishing date, they could return to court and ask for it to be lifted.
Sentencing: prison terms of 12 weeks, suspended for a year. They must each pay £150 towards the RSPCA’s costs as well as £115 government tax. The two men must spend 12 days of training with probation officers. Lifetime ban on keeping animals.
CONVICTED (2018) | David Arfon Davies, born c. 1959, of Brookhill Hall Farm, Brookhill Lane, Pinxton, Nottingham NG16 6JU – for the mistreatment of the animals on his farm.
Rottweiler Modlin and horse Tommy have recovered from their ordeal on David Davies’ farm in Pinxton, Nottingham
Davies had denied causing unnecessary suffering at the farm but failed to turn up for his trial and was found guilty at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court in February 2018.
The enquiry began when Davies took a horse, named Tommy, to be castrated, only for experts to decide he was too weak to withstand a general anaesthetic.
Tommy’s ribs and spine were easily seen, he was infected with lice, and was not used to being handled.
The RSPCA was told and visited the farm. Inspector Teresa Potter said a rottweiler was tied to a gate and “hunched over a bucket, adding that the dog’s “demeanour was very dull, you could see all his bones and he was scruffy.”
She went into a barn with a vet where they found two cows lying amid straw. A Swiss red cow was under a rug and had “a horrendous wound to her hip.”
Inspector Potter added: “There was a horrible smell as you lifted the rug. I would describe it as a rotting flesh sort of smell.”
Vet Christine Jamieson said the cow had ulcers the size of “dinner plates and right down to the bone.”
She said: “I think it had been dragged over a concrete surface.”
They only found a sick Friesian cow because it was covered with builder’s bags which began to move.
“It was trying to raise its head when it heard us talking,” said Miss Jamieson.
She believed both had been unable to stand since the previous December and that would have caused internal damage.
“We went down to the house and he said ‘they’re alive’, and carried on and didn’t seem to understand it was inhumane to keep cows like that,” added Miss Jamieson.
The RSPCA’s prosecutor Mr Wright called for the farmer to be banned from owning and keeping any animals. This request was granted by the courts, with the farmer receiving a life ban.
Tommy and Modlin were taken into the care of the RSPCA and made full recoveries. Sadly the two ill cows found on the farm were euthanised immediately.
Sentencing | 26-week prison term, suspended for two years; £750 towards the costs of the RSPCA. Banned for life from keeping livestock.
