CONVICTED (2017) | Jemma Bloom (née Jemma Sero), born 25 May 1985, and husband Barney William Bloom (known as Billy Bloom), born 2 May 1980 of Mirfield Road, Witney OX28 5BA – left their pet dog to starve in a squalid outhouse
Dog killers: Billy and Jemma Bloom now of Witney, Oxfordshire
The pair, then of Hudson Street, Bicester, admitted starving and failing to look after their crossbreed dog Hooch, who was later put to sleep by a vet following his ordeal.
Hooch was found without food and water in a squalid outhouse at the couple’s home after the police contacted the animal welfare charity with concerns for the dog’s wellbeing.
Hooch
RSPCA Inspector Lauren Bailey, who investigated the case, said: “When I first saw Hooch he was at the police station and I was moved by how loving he was.
“He was so skinny, dirty, and neglected but had so much time for everyone he met.
“It was heart-breaking to see a dog that had not been shown any love himself still offer love unconditionally to others.
“He had sadly been left without food and water in a dirty outhouse. He was very underweight with all his ribs showing.
“When I carried out the interviews they admitted he wasn’t cared for and said he was only occasionally fed leftover pasta.
“The neglect suffered by Hooch could have been easily avoided but he was simply left to suffer without the care he needed and deserved.
“We encourage people who can no longer cope with caring for their pets to contact us for help and advice to avoid unnecessary distress and suffering being caused.”
Hooch initially recovered from his mistreatment while in the care of the RSPCA and managed to regain some weight but had to be put to sleep because of medical issues.
Sentencing: Barney Bloom – 12 weeks in jail. Jemma Bloom – eight weeks in jail suspended for 12 months; community order with one-month home curfew. Both were disqualified from keeping dogs for 10 years (expires July 2027).
CONVICTED (2017) | Hywel “Howie” Clay, born 14/11/1969, of Radnor Court, Faringdon SN7 7TB – dangled a dog by her lead and kicked her
Roxy was subjected to a violent attack by her drunken owner, Hywel Clay.
Clay had denied causing unnecessary suffering to an animal but was found guilty in his absence.
Prosecutor Pauline Lambert said a couple passed Clay outside Tesco in Ocotal Way on November 5, 2016, and saw him yanking the dog’s lead as he stumbled along the pavement.
As they watched they saw him take the lead in both hands and lift the dog off the floor.
He was also seen kicking her.
Stopping their car they intervened. A tussle followed as one witness grabbed the distressed dog to take the weight from her neck.
Clay grabbed the dog round the neck and tried to take her back as a crowd gathered around them.
The witness let the dog go and put his hands on Clay’s shoulders to prevent him leaving. Clay threw himself backwards, landing on the ground.
The dog tried to get back to the witness and a struggle followed.
She said: “Clay was eventually restrained by Tesco security staff.
“When police arrived they found him struggling to sit and drooling and he was abusive as they questioned him.
Clay was also found guilty of being drunk and disorderly and failing to surrender to Chippenham magistrates. He had denied both allegations.
Alex Daymond, defending, said Clay still disputed the allegations but understood the court had made up its mind. However he did agree that he had a problem with alcohol.
Until the last couple of years he had worked as a panel beater for a classic car restoration business. But his life had spiralled out of control with the death of his brother.
He recognised he had an alcohol problem and had got his GP to refer him to alcohol counselling services.
“He is very keen to sort his life out and get back into work,” said Mr Daymond.
Clay was almost £20,000 in arrears with his mortgage and was facing repossession.
He had owned dogs since he was five years old and until the incident in November there had been no suggestion of him maltreating his pets.
“He loves dogs and is appalled that he has been accused of this,” he said.
“In fact Clay had chosen to be a vegetarian because of his concern for animal welfare.
“Bearing in mind that he has had dogs for so long, this would appear to be a one-off incident in all the circumstances, suggested Mr Daymond. Clay lived alone and relied on his dog for company.
“I would urge the court not to remove that from him.”
Sentence: 12-month community order, £200 prosecution costs and an £85 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping pets for five years (expired April 2022). Deprivation order on Roxy.
CONVICTED (2016) |Elizabeth Richmond-Watson, born 02/06/1960, of Halfacre, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6DB – neglected 64 Bengal cats
Cat breeder Elizabeth Richmond-Watson from Henley on Thames was banned from keeping animals after ‘extreme neglect’
Elizabeth Richmond-Watson, owner of Owlsdene Bengals, was found guilty of offences under the Animal Welfare Act of failing to protect 64 Bengal cats in her care because of a lack of disease control programme and appropriate hygiene provisions to prevent the spread of disease.
The RSPCA visited Richmond-Watson’s address in February 2016 after concerns were raised about the welfare of a number of cats bred to sell.
Inspectors found the property in a sordid state with cats roaming the “unhygienic” house and outbuildings.
Food had been left lying around and many of the animals were suffering from illnesses including cat flu and eye infections.
Three animals had to be put down at the scene and another four in the days afterwards due to health and behavioural issues.
RSPCA inspector Rachel Smith said: “When we arrived there were lots and lots of cats just roaming the house and the outbuildings, which had been built for breeding in completely unhygienic conditions.
“It was chaotic with clutter and rubbish and there was food lying around — a totally unsuitable environment for these cats to be living in.
“Sadly, the owner was just not providing proper care for these cats, leading to some extreme neglect.
“She may have had the best of intentions but the reality was the animals were suffering and we had to act to ensure there was no further suffering.”
Richmond-Watson will be able to appeal for her ban to be lifted after one year.
Sentence: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; 60 hours’ unpaid work; ordered to pay £10,000 costs plus victim surcharge; disqualified from keeping animals for three years (expired December 2019 but she could appeal as early as December 2017).
CONVICTED (2015) | Craige Slater, born c. 1972, from Headington, Oxford – battered a pensioner’s dog during a burglary causing unsurvivable injuries.
2017 image. Source: Facebook.
Slater admitted burglary and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
He was jailed for four years after burgling “vulnerable” neighbour 71-year-old Edna Nelson who once had taken in his washing and cooked for him.
But her acts of kindness were repaid with being struck about the head and leaving her pet spaniel Dasher with injuries too severe for treatment.
Police mugshot of Craige Slater.
Sentencing, Judge Peter Ross said: “This is a dreadful offence of burglary. It involved the targeting of a vulnerable elderly lady. It involved violence to her in her home and it has resulted in the death of her companion.”
Prosecutor Angus Robertson told the court Ms Nelson was returning home after taking Dasher for a walk when she noticed someone with their hood up following her.
He said the victim opened her front door and stepped inside her home when she was pushed from behind and fell to the floor.
Mr Robertson said Slater hit Ms Nelson, who recognised the defendant, a number of times to the head.
The prosecutor said Slater then went into the living room, where he stole about £100 from her purse.
He said Ms Nelson was “frightened” as she remained on the floor and called for an ambulance after Slater left her home.
Mr Robertson said she suffered a cut to her lower leg and had her toenail ripped off but did not need hospital treatment.
It is not known if the dog was protecting his owner, but Dasher ended up seriously injured in the incident Ms Nelson couldn’t afford the cost of having the pet’s injuries treated and instead opted to have him put to sleep.
Mr Robertson said Ms Nelson also had to pay a £400 vet’s bill and £45 worth of taxi fares.
He added: “She is scared now to go out and walk around. She feels that every man she sees in black will attack her.
“She has helped the defendant in the past by washing his clothes and cooking him food and giving him shelter at her home. She is scared of the defendant.
“She simply does not feel confident or safe opening her own front door.”
Mr Robertson said Dasher’s death had a “considerable” impact on Ms Nelson, who now has a new dog.
He said the defendant, who has been in court 22 times for 34 offences, was arrested later the same day and gave a no-comment interview.
Defence barrister Peter Du Feu said Slater was using crack cocaine at the time and added: “He had not intended for it to escalate to pushing her to the floor or the dog being injured.”
Speaking via video link from Bullingdon Prison, Slater told the court he felt “sick with shame” because of his actions.
He added: “The victim did not deserve what I did and I’m sorry. Drugs took control of my emotions and my lifestyle.”
Judge Ross added: “You knew her well, you knew her dog well. She had been someone who’d been kind to you.
“You went out that day looking for some means to obtain money to buy crack cocaine. You deprived her of a companion.”
Slater was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and a criminal courts charge, as well as take part in a restorative justice scheme.
CONVICTED (2013) | Frederick McHugh, born 1931 (now deceased), his daughter Angela Russell, born c. 1971, her son Robert Russell, born 26/04/1988, and daughters Kirsty Russell, born 18/07/1992, and Louise Russell, born 14/11/1990, all previously of Faringdon Road, Abingdon OX13 5HN and niece Abigail McHugh of Pendennis Road, Swindon SN5 8QD – ran a bogus animal rescue where dozens of animals were starved, neglected and kept in squalor
RSPCA inspectors rescued 29 dogs, 13 horses and a number of chickens, goats, cats, and ducks during a raid on Crunchy’s Animal Rescue in January 2012.
Officials described conditions at the centre, based in in Faringdon Road, Longworth, near Abingdon, as “some of the worst they had ever seen”.
Dogs, cats, rabbits, ponies and other animals lived in filthy kennels covered in their own urine and faeces, with inadequate bedding, food and water.
Some animals were found in areas containing rubbish, bundles of barbed wire, metal frames from burned mattresses and rusting cars.
A number of the animals had skin conditions which had not been treated.
A shih-tzu dog with an eye condition, a duck and a turkey were in such a bad condition that they had to be put down.
In April 2013 a total of eight people involved with the sanctuary — Angela Russell, her father Fred, her son Robert Russell, her daughters Kirsty and Louise, her brother Peter, niece Abigail McHugh and Angela’s carer, Daniel Bunyan went on trial at Bicester Magistrates Court.
Angela Russell and son, Robert Russell, pictured outside court
All bar Peter Russell and Daniel Bunyan were convicted of 16 offences of cruelty including failing to provide adequate nutrition, adequate parasitic control and provision of veterinary care.
When welfare officers from the RSPCA, World Horse Welfare and the Blue Cross visited the sanctuary between December 2011 and January 2012, they discovered lice-covered horses left to forage in muddy fields littered with junk and sharp objects, and various rabbits, dogs and goats left in cramped conditions, covered in faeces and without food and water.
Some of the animals had been entrusted to the rescue centre temporarily by their owners.
Much loved pet Winston was found living in squalor at the Russell family’s so-called animal sanctuary
Sandra Luker trusted Crunchy’s with four golden retrievers, two cats and a rabbit in November 2011 – but only one dog and her cat were ever returned.
There were also allegations of animal exploitation for financial gain with the judge noting “a commercial element to the operation”. The charity received generous donations from the public but, in the judge’s view, that money had not gone towards looking after the animals. In addition the charity was found to have sold puppies, kittens and rabbits on the internet with Louise Russell having an instrumental role here.
Jonathan Coode, prosecuting for the RSPCA, had told the court: ‘It is our case that for years none of the defendants did anything to improve the conditions and when the RSPCA finally stepped in, some of the worst conditions that most of the witnesses have ever experienced were discovered.
‘One of the most shocking aspects of this case is a dog cowering in a cage. In front of it is effectively a termite mound, almost taller than it, of piled-up faeces.’
He said an area where four puppies were found living among rubbish in a caravan had ‘the most appalling stench’ of faeces and urine.
A horse found lying dead under an old pick-up truck roof had died of Yew tree poisoning and also had bits of tarpaulin and other rubbish in its stomach.
The RSPCA suspected the Russells had tried to hide it and were planning to secretly bury it.
The rescue centre was set up in 2006 and had four trustees. Concerns were first raised about the charity in 2008 and the RSPCA had issued several warnings about the standards of care of the animals
Sentencing Angela Russell, district Judge Tim Pattinson said he believed her to be the “prime mover” in the neglect.
He said: “There is no way an animal lover could allow such profound neglect of this type.”
“Crunchy’s was an animal disaster, a sea of mud and faeces containing shocking and dangerous hazards.
“In short, it was a rescue centre from which animals needed to be rescued.”
Judge Pattinson added: “The photos and videos shown during this case will be remembered by everyone who saw them for a very long time. In particular, the horses crippled by overgrown hooves and the horses trying to eat from a wheelie bin.
“All of you inflicted this suffering in the name of this charity – a rescue centre, a sanctuary – but nothing could be further from the truth than that of what was going on at Crunchy’s.”
RSPCA deputy chief inspector Kirsty Withnall investigated the case.
“What we found at Faringdon Road were filthy, disgusting conditions where animals were being kept amongst all sorts of hazardous items without food and water,” she said. “We have a duty to protect animals from this sort of neglect and we hope that the sentence will help to do this.
“Many of these animals had been entrusted to the care of the defendants by loving owners. Instead of the care promised, the animals were left in dirty, broken down buildings without vet treatment where it was needed or access to basic care.”
Sentencing |
Angela and Fred Russell were both sentenced to 26 weeks in prison and a life ban on keeping animals, with Mr Russell’s sentence suspended for 18 months in light of his age. He was also ordered to pay £1,000 costs.
Robert Russell was sentenced to immediate imprisonment for 18 weeks and was banned from owning, keeping, dealing, transporting or participating in keeping of animals for 10 years (expires July 2023).
Kirsty Russell received a curfew order and £1,000 fine,
Louise Russell received a 12-week suspended prison sentence, a curfew order and a £1,000 fine. Both sisters have been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
Abigail McHugh was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and ordered to pay £1000 in costs.
Frederick Russell is deceased. Robert Russell now lives in Fore Street, Bugle, St Austell, Cornwall PL26 8PB with a partner and their twins. Angela Russell’s whereabouts are unknown.
CONVICTED (2012) | Nora Christine Mannion, born 22/12/1965, of 9 Denmark Street, Oxford OX4 1QS and son Sonny Christian Mannion, born 09/08/1990, of 86 Percy Street, Oxford OX4 3AD – allowed one of their five injured bull terriers to attack a stranger’s dog in the street
Convicted drug dealer and career criminal Sonny Mannion was only banned from keeping animals for five years despite evidence of severe abuse towards his dogs. All five dogs, some of whom ha cigarette burns as well as fighting wounds, were destroyed.
On May 26. 2011, the police, along with RSPCA inspectors, executed a search warrant at Nora Mannion’s home in Denmark Street, Oxford where they found the dogs alone. The crossbreed bull terriers – named Yao, Billy, Marley, Cannon and Blingers – were taken by the RSPCA to kennels and examined by a vet.
Vets said the dogs had numerous small injuries, some of which had been caused by fighting. Some wounds were consistent with cigarette burns.
All five dogs had to be destroyed because they were too aggressive to be rehomed.
Nora Mannion was charged with being the owner of a dog and allowing it to be dangerously out of control in a public place and cause injury.
She also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal by failing to arrange veterinary care for Yao.
Career criminal Sonny Mannion, who has a string of previous convictions including three robberies, criminal damage, battery, shoplifting and dealing in Class A drugs, pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the welfare of an animal.
Senior RSPCA inspector Kirsty Wignall said: “I am pleased with the sentencing, particularly with the disqualification.”
She said it had not been possible to prove who was responsible for the burns on the dogs.
The animals also had wounds indicative of fighting with other dogs or each other, she said.
Sentencing: Nora Mannion – six-week jail term, suspended for 12 months; three-month curfew; £500 costs and £500 compensation. Banned from owning animals for 10 years (expired March 2022) Sonny Mannion – three-month curfew; £500 costs. Banned from owning animals for five years (expired March 2017).
Clockwise from top left: Ian Draper, Danny Draper, Laura Borrow and Katy Davies
The despicable activities of gypsies Ian Draper and son Danny Draper were uncovered after Ian Draper’s ex-wife Sharon took a terrier named Bridget to a veterinary practice to be treated. The painfully thin dog had been so desperate for food she had swallowed her own collar. The vet tipped off the RSPCA who investigated.
At Danny Draper’s home inspectors found several bull-terrier dogs in an emaciated condition. One dog was so starved that he had eaten his collar.
Danny Draper is pictured with a dog before a fight
All of the dogs were scarred and some had broken teeth and injured tails.
Equipment used for training fighting dogs, including a treadmill, was also discovered, along with a video showing two dogs tearing each other apart.
More dogs were found at Ian Draper’s home. He was given a three-month custodial sentence in 2005 for similar offences, and was serving a ten-year ban on keeping animals at the time of the offences.
Swindon Crown Court was shown footage of one fight in which the Drapers are heard cheering a dog named Ozzy. It was so horrific Judge Simon Cooper asked for it to be turned off after a minute.
Officials also found a break-stick with several teeth marks on used to wedge into the jaws of fighting dogs to separate them.
The Drapers kept notes of the dogs’ training regimes as they hardened them for bouts lasting up to 40 minutes, on which punters made huge bets.
Starving and injured ‘fighting’ dogs were kept in squalor at the Drapers’ homes in Oxfordshire
The pair often held practice fights. Their dogs had even featured in a dog-fighting magazine. The animals were trained to attack wounds or the neck and face, often resulting in lips being ripped off.
Danny Draper pleaded guilty to five charges including possession of items in connection with an animal fight, while his father pleaded guilty to seven charges.
The men’s then girlfriends Laura Borrow (left) and Katy Davies pictured outside court
The men’s girlfriends Laura Borrow and Katy Davies were not only aware of their partners’ actions but played a key role in organising dog fights themselves. Davies pleaded guilty to one offence of aiding and abetting Ian Draper. Borrow pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering.
Sentencing: Ian Draper was given a 20-week prison sentence and Danny Draper a 12-week sentence. Ian Draper was also banned from keeping dogs for life after he admitted breaching his previous ban. His son was given a 15-year ban.
Katy Davies was fined £600. Hornsby was ordered to pay £300 in costs and disqualified from keeping dogs.
Danny Draper has changed his name by deed poll to Danny Smith. He and father Ian Draper, who both live at 1 Walkers Close, Asthall, Burford, OX18 4HN, are directors of a courier company called Cotswold Couriers Ltd (possibly now defunct).
Danny and Ian Draper are no longer with Laura Borrow and Katy Davies and both women have gone on to marry other people and take their husbands’ names.
Davies is now Katy Chapman. She lives in Church Lane, Burford OX18 4SD. Laura Borrow was known as Laura Hornsby for a while but is now Laura Saxton. She lives in Moorland Road, Witney OX28 6LT.
CONVICTED (2010) | Julie Carter, born 9 March 1970, of 22 Herald Way, Bicester OX26 4SF – drowned eight of her pet cats one by one in a baby bath at her home.
Over a week, mother-of-one Julie Carter subjected each of the fully grown cats, aged between one and three, to a painful death by holding them under water.
She admitted causing unnecessary suffering by killing the animals between May 25 and June 7, 2010.
The court heard a member of staff at Charter Community Housing visited the house and was struck by the smell of cat urine.
Carter was told she would have to remove some of her 11 cats and clean up the house.
But when RSPCA inspector Doug Davidson went to the premises only three cats were left. Carter later admitted she had killed the other eight.
Defending, Paul Bevan said Carter knew what she had done, but had a “limited degree of understanding”.
He said she had received threats over the case.
Sentencing | 12 weeks in jail. Lifetime ban on all animals.
