Tag Archives: police officer

Cats, kitten breeders, Lifers, Organised Animal Crime, Pet Profiteering, Worst of the Worst

Bexleyheath, South-East London: Amy Byrne and Harry Angell

May 11, 2023 misanthropic 7 Comments

CONVICTED (2023) | disgraced ex police officer Amy Louise Byrne, born November 1992, and partner Harry Angell, born c. 1991, of Downbank Avenue, Barnehurst, Bexleyheath DA7 6RT – sold sick and dying kittens in £280k scam.

British Transport Police officer Amy Byrne and her boyfriend Harry Angell sold sick and dying kittens to customers in £280,000 scam — RSPCA officers and police raided the Bexleyheath home of Harry Angell and former police officer Amy Byrne following a string of complaints to Trading Standards about sick and dying kittens they’d sold

Former British Transport Police officer Amy Byrne and boyfriend Harry Angell pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and breaches of the Animal Welfare Act.

The couple bought and bred kittens for sale but when customers received their new pets many found that they were malnourished, ill and covered in their own urine or faeces.

Sales and complaints stretch back as far as 2015 and in court RSPCA prosecutor Hazel Stevens gave six examples where kittens died soon after being purchased.

The couple used at least 33 different fake names in their adverts, including claiming to be from Cat Cuddles Rehoming which is a genuine charity. On another occasion they used the ID of someone who had purchased a cat off them to advertise other kittens.

Byrne lied to buyers that she was a vet and that the kittens had been wormed and microchipped, but health certificates provided turned out to be fake.

One victim told the court that she arranged to buy a male kitten off Byrne and Angell as a surprise for her autistic son who had recently lost his cat.

Her son made a thank you card for Bryne which she accepted as she dropped off the kitten.

After Byrne left the mum realised the kitten was female, emaciated and had diarrhoea stuck in her fur. The kitten died a short time later.

Ms Stevens told the court: “There were human and animal victims in this. Humans were risk of getting these illnesses from the cat. Children who were excited about a new member of the family including one child who made a card to thank Amy Byrne, only to see them die days later.

Another victim of their scam said: “Having recently lost a cat to the road, we were so looking forward to giving a home to a new kitten. We instantly fell in love with Elsa who was so sleepy and cuddly when we got her. For the two precious weeks we had her in our lives, she became part of our family.

“We were just devastated to watch her slowly go downhill, monitoring her eating so little, trying to rid her of the worms she arrived with and taking her to the vet for numerous checks/tests. She spent her last two days in the animal hospital with them trying everything to make her better but she gave up the fight and we began our grieving for little Elsa.”

When owners got back in contact with Byrne and Angell after the sale they were often ignored, Ms Stevens said.

The court heard that on one occasion a distraught buyer and her boyfriend turned up at their house to ask for their money back. Byrne told them to wait outside until Angell arrived on the scene and shouted:

“You bought the kitten from me not Amy, but I am not giving you a f***ing penny.”

As a result of the volume of complaints that Trading Standards, the RSPCA and the police were receiving, a search was carried out at Byrne and Angell’s home on Downbank Avenue in Barnehurst, Bexleyheath on August 26, 2021.

A total of 17 kittens were found on the premises on the day of the search, with a vet assessing that six of them were suffering. Those six cats were confiscated and one died a short time later.

During the search Byrne and Angell tried to dispose of their mobile phones. Angell jumped out of the window and threw his phone in the front garden and while police were chasing him Byrne carried out a factory reset of hers.

Angell’s phone was recovered and revealed hundreds of images of kittens, enquiries about adverts and complaints from people reporting that their kittens were sick.

Messages also revealed that the couple found adverts for cheap kittens online, gave the cats flea treatments and then sold them on.

On one occasion Angell bragged about how he bought two kittens for £75 then sold them on for £600 each the next week.

Analysis carried out by the RSPCA showed that the couple intended to make a gain of £278,870.

During an interview Angell confirmed that the kittens seized had not seen a vet as he does not agree with veterinary practices.

Byrne admitted they breed cats and sell them but said they were not making a profit.

Byrne was a British Transport Police (BTP) officer when these crimes were carried out but was the subject of a misconduct investigation relating to serious drug offences which eventually led to her being fired in January 2023.

A BTP misconduct hearing report said a hydroponics tent, two cannabis plants, bag of cannabis, half smoked joint and pack of cannabis seeds were found at her address.

Sentencing | Angell was jailed for three years and four months, while Byrne was jailed for three years and eight months. The couple were also disqualified from owning pets indefinitely and cannot appeal for at least 10 years.

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Daily Mail

Dogs, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers

Eglinton, County Londonderry: John Fleming

April 1, 2022 misanthropic 2 Comments

CONVICTED (2022) | former police officer John Fleming (age and address unknown) – caught on camera brutally kicking one dog and slamming the head of another onto the road.

Fleming pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to his pets (pictured): Alsatian cross Ko and Staffy Alfie during the incident.

A witness spotted Fleming with his dogs on the Craigbrack Road, Eglinton, on January 30, 2021.

They saw Ko had “grabbed a springer spaniel by the back and was shaking it.”

Fleming kicked Ko until the dog let go and the Alsatian “cowered before him”.

But Fleming then bent down, picked the dog up by his head and slammed him “hard onto the ground”.

The witness recorded the rest of the incident on dashcam.

During the footage played to the court, Fleming is seen continuing to kick at the Alsatian a number of times before the animal gets up and runs back onto the road.

Fleming, wearing a yellow high vis jacket, can be seen swinging five full-force kicks at Ko.

At least three of his kicks connect with the animal, who is then seen running way.

Fleming (right) with husband Daniel Fleming-Cairo and a relative.

Striding a short distance down the road after Ko, Fleming appears to stop his husband Daniel Fleming-Cairo from stroking Alfie.

But he then picks up the smaller dog by his scruff and hindquarters, raising him above head height, arms fully stretched, before slamming the animal into tarmac.

The video records Fleming repeating the move – lifting Alfie nearly to head height, and slamming him into the ground.

However the footage is cut off when a vehicle drives in front of the camera, obscuring Fleming and his husband from view.

Prosecuting counsel said while there was no audio on the recording, the witness claimed he had “blasted the car horn and shouted something along the lines of ‘stop beating that dog’.”

However Fleming’s reaction was to turn around and begin “shouting and posturing aggressively,“ the court was told.

There were confrontational words exchanged between the men, with Fleming trying to open the vehicle door.

Disgraced former police officer John Fleming pictured outside court.

Council and police officers went to Fleming’s home a few days later.
A vet noticed that while both animals were friendly and good-natured, Alfie “did appear to be slightly sore when sitting and rising and was assessed as having a mild weight-bearing lameness in his right leg with a superficial wound.”

A third dog was also seized during the visit.

Although initially Fleming’s husband wanted to contest the Council’s application for this dog to be re-homed the court heard he had agreed to the measure.

The court also heard that when he was initially questioned about the incident, Fleming claimed his actions were “proportional.”

He said: “Obviously I am remorseful that I had to hit my dogs… [but] I wouldn’t have acted if I didn’t think that they weren’t correct… Do I regret acting? No… It’s the circumstances I regret that it even happened.”

When the witness’ account was put to him, Fleming “laughed throughout” that portion of the interview and accused the witness “of a public disorder offence”.

Defence counsel Eoghan Devlin said that Fleming had been dismissed from the PSNI this week “as a result of these proceedings”.

Not only had he suffered the ignominy of finding himself in the dock, but he had also lost “what was a very promising career,” Mr Devlin added.

Fleming faced a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, but walked free from court with a community service order..

Sentencing | 200-hour Community Service Order; £2000 towards costs. Banned from keeping any animal for ten years.

ITV News
Belfast Telegraph

Bestiality / Zoophilia, Paedophiles / Sex Offenders

Kirkby, Merseyside: Ronald Hardcastle

December 3, 2021 misanthropic 1 Comment

CONVICTED (2021) | Ronald Hardcastle, born c. 1956, of Southney Close, Kirkby, Liverpool L31 1JR – downloaded dozens of indecent images showing bestiality and child sex abuse.

Ronald Hardcastle. Picture: Liverpool Echo.

Former police officer Hardcastle was caught with almost 300 images on his mobile phone depicting the depraved sexual abuse of children and animals.

The 65-year-old married father admitted he had chosen the online user name of ‘Bad Uncle James’ “to attract other users who might have an interest in indecent images.”

Hardcastle’s sordid behaviour came to light during investigations by the child exploitation unit of the National Crime Agency (NCA) into illegal activity on a Kik Messenger account.

This led officers from Merseyside Police’s online child abuse team, armed with a search warrant, to his home in Kirkby on February 16, 2021.

During the searches various electronic devices were seized.

When his Samsung mobile phone was examined, a total of 275 indecent images – including 202 videos and 29 photographs of extreme porn – were found.

Another 18 images were in the most serious category of child abuse, which includes rape, and 17 of them were videos.

Hardcastle had worked for Merseyside Police for about 30 years and after retiring 11 years ago joined an agency supplying staff to police forces which resulted in him spending four years working as a civilian with Greater Manchester Police.

For some of that time he worked with their child protection department “and had been responsible for categorising images of this sort.”

The case prosecutor queried whether looking at the images in that role had distorted Hardcastle’s thinking or whether he had sought it because of a pre-existing interest.

The job ended after he was involved in a serious accident which left him with broken bones and in hospital for some months. Hardcastle told how “he ended up on anti-depressants and became isolated from his ‘police family’ and became curious about that sort of material having worked in that area.”

In interview Hardcastle said he was not aware possession of the bestiality material was an offence “and found it amusing rather than gratifying.”

Hardcastle pleaded guilty to seven offences involving possessing and making indecent images of children; possessing extreme porn for and distribution, all in January and February 2021.

Hardcastle said he was ashamed of his behaviour and denied having sexual interest in children.

Hardcastle, who attended court on crutches and holding medication, was being supported by his wife and son, who both sat in the public gallery.

Sentencing: 12 months’ imprisonment suspended for 18 months; four-month curfew; 10 days of rehabilitation activity; participation in a sex offenders programme. Given a ten-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders Register, also for ten years.

Liverpool Echo

Dogs, Violent and Sadistic Pet Abusers

Meltham, West Yorkshire: Martin Dunn

April 24, 2021 misanthropic 18 Comments

CONVICTED (2021) | Martin Dunn, born c. 1972, of Albion Gardens, Meltham, Holmfirth HD9 5AF – caught on camera punching a springer spaniel puppy.

Martin Dunn from Meltham, West Yorkshire. Police sergeant and convicted of violent dog abuse

West Yorkshire Police were called after Dunn, a serving police and firearms officer with Greater Manchester Police, attacked the puppy, known as Frank, leaving him yelping in pain.

Sergeant Martin Dunn who earns £44,000 a year, lost his temper and punched the five-month-old dog three or four times in the garden of his property on the evening of March 14, 2021.

Dunn pleaded guilty to an offence of animal cruetly at an earlier hearing.

Following the incident, Frank was examined initially by a vet and then a canine behaviour specialist.

The latter noted in his report that the dog “reacted with extreme fear” when shouted at, indicating that he had learnt to fear such behaviour.”

The behaviour specialist added: “Punching a dog repeatedly is not appropriate training.”

A spokeswoman for Probation said that Dunn “saw red” after the puppy had made a mess. She added that he had been involved in the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017 and has been suffering from PTSD “but without realising it.”

The defendant had been referred for treatment by Occupational Health.

In mitigation, Sarah Barlow, said: “In this case there are a number of stress factors that came together on that evening that caused him to behave as he did.

“He hung his head in shame when he saw the video. It was a complete one-off.”

Animal abuser and former police sergeant Martin Dunn

She said his job which saw him patrolling Manchester Airport “requires that at all times he is under control of his actions.

“As a firearms officer he has a great responsibility. In short he can’t believe that he behaved as he did.

“No excuses are made for it. This is the only occasion when he has behaved in any way like this.

“The effects of witnessing what he did at Manchester Arena affected him very deeply. So often police officers don’t avail themselves of counselling fearing it will affect how they are viewed.”

She said he was also involved in a “horrific neighbour dispute” and was hoping to sell the home he shared with his partner.

She said it meant he “can’t relax either at work or at home.” There were also issues with the custody of his son.

When Dunn was charged by West Yorkshire Police a Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: “Police Sergeant Dunn is currently on restricted duties and the matter has been referred to Greater Manchester Police’s Professional Standards Branch.”

Sentencing |12-month community order with 120 hours of unpaid work reduced from 180 hours because of his guilty plea. Costs and charges totalling £180. Disqualified for five years from keeping any animals apart from a lizard-type leopard gecko (expires April 2026).

ExaminerLive
Manchester Evening News

Update | May 2023

It was reported that Greater Manchester Police have sacked Martin Dunn following his criminal conviction for animal cruelty.

Dunn admitted gross misconduct at an independent disciplinary hearing on Tuesday 2 May 2023 and was dismissed without notice.

GMP said Dunn, who was placed on restricted duties when the incident was reported, had “unreservedly accepted the allegations”.

Ch Supt Michael Allen, head of GMP’s professional standards branch, said Dunn’s actions fell far short of the standard expected of police officers.

“The vast majority of police officers and staff fulfil their duties in serving the public to the highest standard and demonstrate exemplary behaviour in their private lives,” he said.

“Having a criminal conviction for animal cruelty makes Dunn wholly unsuitable to continue serving as a police officer and his cruelty towards Frank the dog is ultimately why he has lost his job.”

BBC News

UK Animal Cruelty Files