CONVICTED (2024) | Aidan Swift, born 11 July 1981, from Holmpton Road, Hollym, Withernsea HU19 2QG – kicked his girlfriend’s Chihuahua to death in a fit of jealous rage.
Swift flew into a jealous rage and kicked the little dog, Kiki, so hard that she died immediately. He also hit his girlfriend with a piece of wood and threatened to kill her.
He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a dog on April 7, 2023. He also admitted to being controlling and hurting his girlfriend and threatening to kill her.
Sentencing Swift the judge stated his behaviour was “appalling” adding that “Kiki was only a small dog, but you must have kicked it hard to kill it. I simply can’t bring myself to express my view about that.”
“You will appreciate that I have dogs myself. The way you treated her pet has left me no alternative but to impose a sentence of imprisonment.
“These offences are simply too serious to overlook.”
Sentencing | two-and-a-half years in prison including one year for the attack on Kiki. Five-year restraining order. Prohibited from owning and/or keeping dogs for five years but may apply for the ban to be lifted after three years (expires March 2029).
CONVICTED (2024) | Zainab Ayinla, born 14 May 1986, of Loughborough Park, Stockwell, London SW9 8TP – starved a bulldog to death.
The emaciated body of the dog, known as Patch, was admitted to a veterinary hospital on December 17, 2022. He had lost an alarming 13kg since his last visit to the vet hospital, just seven months prior and his condition was described by a vet as “shocking”.
The court heard that Ayinla had contacted the vet hospital two months earlier mentioning Patch’s concerning weight loss, but failed to attend a subsequent appointment.
On December 17, Ayinla called the vet again, reporting that her pet could no longer walk and was showing signs of distress with laboured breathing and sporadic twitching.
By the time Ayinla managed to get Patch to the vet, he had already died.
Post-mortem examination revealed that Patch had 92g of plastic material in his stomach, pointing to extreme hunger.
It was concluded the direct cause of death was severe malnutrition. There was no underlying cause; he was able to eat but had no access to food.
The vet said: “His condition at presentation was shocking: he was significantly underweight with an accountable weight loss of 13kg in the past seven months since the last time he was seen at the hospital in May 2022, with very long nails and bed sores and urine scalding.
“Considering Patch’s presentation on the 17 December and the missed appointment in November, is it my professional opinion that Patch went through a significant period of suffering until the time of his death.
“Would the owner have him brought to us sooner and probably we would have been able to help him, whether from a medical point of view or supporting the owner in providing care for her pet.”
Ayinla’s defence was that she “had done everything she could for the dog”, having sought advice about worming and Patch’s weight loss, yet there was no corresponding record of this in Patch’s vet hospital documentation.
RSPCA inspector Philip Norman, who investigated for the animal welfare charity, said: “Animals are completely reliant on their owners to ensure their needs are met. Providing food and water is an essential.
“Owning an animal is a privilege – and ensuring appropriate care is a key part of the responsibility we have towards them.
“It’s sad that, in this instance, the owner of Patch failed to provide him with a suitable diet and as a result allowed him to suffer for a prolonged period of time.”
Sentencing | fined £300 and ordered to pay £800 in court costs. 10-year ban on keeping dogs.
CONVICTED (2024) | Mercy Mujinya-Motima, born 27 May 1986, of Longley Road, Tooting, London – starved her pet Labradoodle to death.
NHS employee Mujinya-Motima, who works in mental health services, took the emaciated body of the female dog, Shiloh, to the Blue Cross animal hospital on 23 October 2023.
She told staff the one-year-old labradoodle had died after being involved in a collision with a car the previous evening. However, it was evident to the vet that the dog had been starved over a prolonged period and had no injuries consistent with a road traffic accident. She was given a body condition score of just one out of nine.
Vets discovered that Shiloh weighed just 5.8kg and was severely emaciated
The vet was of the opinion Shiloh had been unwell for at least six months before her death
Mujinya-Motima had never taken the dog, whom she had owned from the age of eight weeks, to a vet but had registered her with a practice just five days before her death.
RSPCA inspector Harriet Daliday investigated for the animal welfare charity.
In written evidence, she stated: “I was shocked at what ease the body was removed from the storage given the breed of dog. I could easily lift the dog with one hand.
“I was informed that the dog only weighed 5.8kg at the time she was brought in.
“Shiloh was extremely underweight with all ribs, hips and spine sharp and easily felt.
“The shape of her skull and the indentation above the eye sockets were easily felt. There was absolutely no fat or muscle on her body.
“Her eyes were sunken in and had a gunky discharge surrounding them.
“She had a small open wound on her left hind leg and what looked to be like pressure sores on her thighs. I found it surprising that whilst being in this poor condition, Shiloh’s coat appeared to be well maintained.
“It was clean and looked like it had been fairly freshly groomed. The nails were trimmed far back and had been cut as opposed to being naturally short.”
Inspector Daliday also contacted the registered owner on the dog’s chip – who was the breeder of the labradoodle – and added: “She advised she had a litter of labradoodle puppies last July which she sold at nine weeks old.
“This one by the name of Pink Collar was sold to a lady and her daughter. She said she would be able to find the contact details if I needed them.
“I advised the dog was sadly deceased and this was now being investigated. The breeder was shocked and upset that this had happened to one of her puppies.”
Mujinya-Motima pleaded guilty to an animal welfare offence.
The court heard in mitigation that she was remorseful and distressed and that she had no plans to keep a dog in the future.
They added that she had paid over £400 for the dog, and had voluntarily surrendered the dog’s body to the vet.
Sentencing | 12-month community order including a 12-week curfew and an electronic tag; £400 costs. Five-year ban on owning dogs (expires March 2029).
CONVICTED (2024) | petting farm owners Alan Riley, born c. 1970, and Sarah Nethercoat, born 14 July 1989, of Park Avenue, Beverley HU17 7AT – neglected a donkey and pony until they became so unwell they had to be put down.
Melody, a 30-year-old pony, and Maggie, a 15-year-old grey donkey, were among the animals neglected by Alan Riley and Sarah Nethercoat, owners of Aroha Donkeys rescue centre and sanctuary, at Ashfield Farm in Wilfholme, between Beverley and Driffield. Both were so emaciated and distressed that vets had no option but to euthanise them.
In court the couple admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animals in 2021.
Aroha Donkeys was run as a business, which initially cared for donkeys used in beach rides but expanded to become a breeding and training centre. A total of 20 donkeys were kept at the centre as well as goats and ponies.
The RSPCA first became involved with the couple in July 2019, when a welfare officer advised them to provide the donkeys with shelter. Riley and Nethercoat insisted that a hedge in the field provided sufficient shelter for the animals. They also claimed that the donkeys received regular hoof and dental care.
The RSPCA issued them with a non-statutory improvement notice. Follow-up attempts to contact the pair were unsuccessful.
On a subsequent visit, officers found dirty bedding full of faeces. A shelter was too small for the number of animals using the centre.
In November 2021, RSPCA inspectors Tom Hutton and Alice Wilson along with staff from the Donkey Sanctuary charity, paid a visit to Ashfield Farm where they found around 25 horses and donkeys, owned by the pair, living in poor conditions in a field and barn.
Inspectors found poor quality fencing. A shelter area was made of corrugated iron, which was described as “rusty and dangerous”,
Inspector Hutton said in a statement presented to the court that there were concerns for the health of four animals, in particular Maggie and Melody.
“There were around 23 equines in a large paddock and an open barn with a thick straw bedding with excessive faeces inside,” said the inspector.
“As I walked around the field, there were several hazards littering the perimeter, including bits of loose wire, fallen fencing and loose fence posts.
“One small pony was extremely underweight as it walked across the field towards us with her head down. Her ribs and hip bones were excessively prominent.”
“The owners said they were providing feed. But there was now evidence the animals were in a sub-optimal condition,” he added.
Elderly pony Melody (pictured) was suffering with two large wounds and one small one to her side. These had been left untreated for weeks if not months
Vet Suzanne Green attended the scene and found Melody in a weak, thin and lethargic state, with a wound to the side shoulder and a second large wound on one of her thighs.
They were inflamed and bleeding and in the vet’s expert opinion they had been left untreated for weeks, if not months.
Nethercoat told the vet that the wound had been treated for about six months with antibiotics. No evidence was provided to substantiate the treatment.
Melody and Maggie and the two other horses were removed from the field, with Melody later transferred to an equine hospital for treatment.
Prosecutor Phil Brown told the court: “Melody needed urgent treatment for overgrown hooves as there had been a lack of hoof care. There was pain and suffering.
“Euthanasia was the only way to ease the suffering,
“They also found ulcerations to the mouth which had made eating difficult.”
Pregnant donkey Maggie required urgent treatment to her hooves. X-rays taken later showed that the failure to provide hoof care had caused malformed bone structures within her feet and osteoarthritis.
She had bonded with another donkey who was earlier found dead in a field.
Maggie gave birth before she too was put down in February 2024.
Riley’s lawyer, Matthew Moore-Taylor, told the court his client had an acute bowel condition, which caused a serious reduction in his weight. Before 2021, all the animals in the centre were in good condition, he added.
For Nethercoat, Sheila Whitehead said: “She needed more help than she admitted. People came to her with wild animals for care. She has always allowed the animals to come to her irrespective of the condition they were in..”
The pony was old. so certain treatments could not be done, Miss Whitehead said. “She was very upset it had got to the level that it had.
“She is remorseful that it got to the position that it had,” she added.
It was claimed that any money raised at the donkey sanctuary was ploughed back into the centre for feed and care.
Sentencing the pair, Recorder MacDonald KC said he had read testimonials highlighting their care for animals.
“But you don’t have to be an expert to see that the pony had three significant injuries, ribs sticking out and was malnourished and you could see it needed veterinary treatment,” he added.
“It is perfectly clear to me, being a non-veterinary person, its ribs were poking out and it had a large wound on the shoulder and the thigh was bleeding. These injuries had been there for weeks or months. It was chronically mal-nourished.”
Recorder MacDonald said that he did not view the petting farm as a money-making venture. He accepted that both defendants had health problems and it was this that caused neglect of the animals, rather than a cynical disregard for the animals’ care to make money.
“These were just two of a much larger number of animals which were generally in good condition,” Recorder MacDonald added.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA inspector Tom Hutton said: “This was a clear case of neglect. Both these equines were left in appalling conditions when they needed urgent vet treatment and one sadly had to be put to sleep because she was so unwell.”
Riley, a former farmer, and Nethercoat, who worked as a riding instructor, were well-known in the area as their donkeys, many of whom were rescue animals, took part in events such as the Beverley Christmas Festival.
In 2021 they were given sudden notice to leave a smallholding between Beverley and Driffield they had been renting from a farmer and appealed for the public’s help in finding a new home.
Sentencing | six-month custodial, suspended for two years; 25 rehabilitation days. No order for costs was imposed because the petting farm was not making money. Both are disqualified from keeping donkeys, mules and equine hybrids for 10 years.
CONVICTED (2024) | serial animal abuser Pamela Mary Brown, born 7 November 1954, of 16 Browney Lane, Browney, Durham DH7 8HT – for the neglect of two horses.
Pamela Brown, a traveller and repeat offender*, has been given an 11-week curfew for causing unnecessary suffering to horses Rosealee and Topsy between January and May 2023..
She pleaded guilty to ineffective equine dentistry care, inadequate investigation, or addressing of the horses’ underweight and poor bodily conditions.
She was ordered to comply with curfew from 9pm to 7am daily at her caravan.
The order lasts until May 21, 2024, includes electronic monitoring, and allows three metres of movement for toilet visits.
She is also disqualified from dealing with horses for ten years and must pay a £114 victim services surcharge and £300 in costs, at £20 per month starting April 3.
*In February 2015 Pamela Brown was given an 18-month supervision order and five-year ban on keeping horses for neglecting one equine so severely he had to be immediately destroyed.
The unnamed horse, who was kept in a field with 12 others in Langley Moor, Durham, was underweight with an overgrown and deformed hoof. Other horses in the herd had skin diseases and lice.
Serial horse abuser Pamela Brown with daughter Louise Nicholson, aka Louise Doherty, co-defendant in the 2015 RSPCA prosecution and co-owner with husband Patrick Doherty of Doherty Stud Yard.
Speaking about the horse that was euthanised, Kevin Campbell for the RSPCA said the animal had “poor body condition .. poor feet, poor living environment and effectively it is difficult to see anything worse that could have been done to to the horse”.
Brown’s co-accused, daughter Louise Nicholson aka Louise Doherty or NickyLouise Dior Doherty, born October 1988, and also of 16 Browney Lane, was cleared of five charges of failing to ensure an animal’s welfare, relating to a pony called Tiny and another unnamed horse.
In mitigation for Pamela Brown, solicitor David Ward described her as “a very robust lady who is the matriarch …”
He added that his client “has some difficulty in reading and writing as they all seem to do, but it is unlikely that this lady will be involved in any further offending“.
In addition to the supervision order and five-year ban, Brown was ordered to pay £1,000 costs and a £60 victim surcharge.
CONVICTED (2024) | Claire Mitchell, born 4 September 1973, of First Avenue, Teignmouth – failed to treat a lurcher with a skin condition so severe that he was left almost bald.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to an animal welfare offence following an investigation and prosecution by the RSPCA.
The offence stated that between May 26, 2022 and July 7, 2022 Mitchell caused unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a male lurcher called Thor, by a failure to ensure he was provided with timely and appropriate veterinary care for his hair loss and/or skin condition.
RSPCA rescuers were contacted with concerns about Thor, who was suffering from a skin condition that had left him almost bald with sore red skin.
Mitchell failed to attend veterinary appointments that had been made for her and continued to leave Thor in a suffering state. She also ignored return visits from RSPCA officers following up on dog’s welfare.
Thor pictured in healthier times. Source Claire Mitchell/Facebook
Thor went on to make a full recovery in RSPCA care.
Sentencing | 160 hours of unpaid work and 15 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement days; £126 costs and £114 victim surcharge. Seven-year ban on keeping dogs (expires March 2031).
CONVICTED (2024) | cat hoarder Teresa Hawtin, born c. 1975, of Duport Road, Burbage, Hinckley LE10 – kept 58 felines in a faeces- and urine-covered flat.
Two of the 58 cats found at Hawtin’s flat were were dead when the RSPCA entered the property. A third cat was put to sleep after being transferred into the charity’s care.
Hawtin claimed to be a “caring cat lover” who had previously run a cat rescue service.
However, in the preceding six months or so, the number of cats she was looking after had “increased dramatically” due to people asking her to “take in stray cats and cats that had been abandoned”.
RSPCA Inspector Helen Smith said Hawtin’s flat in Shilton Road, in Barwell, Leicester, was “one of the worst properties” she had attended in her 25 years as an inspector. She added the smell of urine and faeces was “overpowering”, with excrement covering “every surface” in the flat except for a small sofa.
Litter trays were overflowing, she said, and there were pools of diarrhoea on the floor. There were also “hundred of flies alive and dead”, the RSPCA said.
All of the remaining cats have since been re-homed, the charity added.
Ms Smith said: “The environment was completely unsuitable, and the smell from the ammonia was overpowering.
“The defendant also claimed she had run a cat rescue, but the conditions these cats were kept in were completely inappropriate for such a large number of cats.
“The RSPCA had tried to help the defendant on a large number of occasions – but she chose to ignore any offers of support.”
Hawtin was well known in her local area for collecting cats
Hawtin pleaded guilty to failing to ensure the needs of the majority of the cats were met, and failing to ensure they had a suitable, hygienic and safe environment. She was found not guilty of causing unnecessary suffering and of not providing timely and appropriate veterinary treatment for eight of them.
She told the court she had tried her best and felt those eight cats did not need veterinary treatment at the point at which she was looking after them, prior to the RSPCA attending. She added that she realised there were too many to look after and that was the reason she signed them over to the care of the RSPCA.
Sentencing | ordered to pay £100 in costs, a fine of £230 and a victim surcharge of £92. Banned from keeping cats for just two years (expires March 2026).
CONVICTED (2023) | sadistic Daniel Taylor, born c. 1992, of 99 Shrewsbury Road, Manton, Worksop S89 2TX – tortured, killed and mutilated more than 100 deer, foxes, badgers and pigeons.
A police search of the home Daniel Taylor shares with company director wife Georgina Ruth Taylor, née Georgina Brigham, revealed over 100 graphic phone videos and images which showed him attacking, decapitating and encouraging his dogs to fight and kill wildlife.
Prosecutor Lucy Woodcock told the court: “In some videos he is seen dissecting the animals and ripping internal organs out”.
Officers also found 15 deer heads and 14 fox tails, as well as snares and weapons.
Police found a shocking hoard of deer skulls, fox tails and weapons at Daniel Taylor’s family home
A blood-stained quad bike and lamping equipment were also recovered.
Police arrested Taylor, confiscated his phone and removed his dogs from the house as part of the investigation.
Officers were able to map the images and videos on his phone to specific locations.
PC Mark Holland, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “From this we were able to prove when and where most of the animals were killed and link this evidence in with several reports of poaching.
“We also received intelligence which helped establish Taylor was in areas at the relevant times.”
PC Ben Harrison said: “At the back of Taylor’s premises we found what was essentially a slaughterhouse for animals.
“Taylor clearly took pleasure out of his dogs torturing these animals.
“They were clearly being trained to get hold of these animals and rip them to shreds.
“The videos were gruesome and the sounds of the animals squealing in pain were horrible.
“In one particular video, while Taylor was filming one of these acts, he dropped his phone and it flipped over. He bent over to pick it up and it captured a full face shot of him. There was no question over who was doing the filming or who was the owner of these videos.”
The court heard Taylor had played a leading role in “sadistic behaviour” which was “prolonged and repeated” between August 2021 and February 2023.
Sentencing Taylor, Judge Mark Watson told him: “These offences cannot in any way be described as sport. This was a barbaric hobby of yours.
“This was planned activity by you and you clearly revelled in the suffering of these animals.
“You encouraged your dogs to attack these animals with ferocity and they suffered immeasurably.
“These were prolonged and repeated incidents of serious cruelty and examples of sadistic behaviour.”
Sentencing | jailed for two years and eight months. Banned from owning, keeping or participating in keeping dogs for at least seven years
CONVICTED (2024) | former pet shop owner Andrea Maxine Darnell aka Andrea Cooper, born 17 December 1964, of 81 Wivern Road, Hull HU9 4HR – for the starvation and neglect of several snakes all of which died.
In an RSPCA prosecution, Darnell, former owner of the Diamond Exotic pet shop in Saville Street, Hull, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to six snakes. The reptiles died shortly after being rescued.
The court heard that the RSPCA first visited Darnell’s shop in May 2023 after concerns were flagged about the welfare of the animals there.
RSPCA Inspector Laura Barber said: “On our initial visit, a range of worrying issues were immediately apparent. To me and my colleague, exotics expert Inspector Kim Greaves, the shop appeared very overcrowded, with various vivariums stacked on top of each other and inappropriate numbers of animals in the same, small vivariums.
“Many of them – including iguanas, snakes, bearded dragons and a Chinese water dragon – were being kept in dirty, inappropriate conditions or showed historic injuries. A rhinoceros iguana was running free, some vivariums had no substrate and a large, reticulated python was found in a too-small vivarium.
“A Chinese water dragon seemed to have a historical healing mouth issue and many of the vivariums were over-heated. We were very concerned for these animals.”
The RSPCA inspectors issued Darnell with Animal Welfare Notices setting out what was required for her to improve the conditions in the shop. They said that they would revisit to check her progress after a month.
In late June 2023, Inspector Barber and Inspector Greaves reattended the pet shop accompanied by a pet shop inspector from Hull City Council, but there was no improvement. Darnell had failed to keep feeding or care records, which was a breach of her licence conditions.
Inspectors also visited two rooms on the second floor of the premises. These were messy, cluttered and littered with rubbish.
In one room inspectors found 18 young snakes in a racking system without thermostats. Many had no water available.
Six of the snakes were in particularly poor condition. Five corn snakes and one royal python were cold to the touch, underweight and close to death. The corn snakes’ vivarium was dirty with a bad odour. It had no lighting and and the single water bowl contained very little water and wasn’t large enough to bathe in.
Darnell claimed the python had not eaten since she had acquired it but conceded she had never taken him to a vet. She confirmed she owned all six ailing snakes.
The council revoked Darnell’s pet shop licence.
The dying snakes were signed over to the RSPCA and taken to a vet for a preliminary examination. They were then put in the care of a specialist boarding facility to await further in-depth veterinary checks.
Sadly, the royal python and one of the corn snakes soon passed away. The remaining four snakes also died over the next few days.
A vet reported that all the snakes had been dehydrated and extremely emaciated with significant weight loss. They had suffered from mites and some showed suggestions of metabolic bone disease. She believed starvation and dehydration were the probable cause of death.
The vet concluded all the snakes had been caused to suffer unnecessarily in that the person responsible for their care had failed to provide appropriate nutrition, hydration, a clean environment and ability to perform normal behaviour through lack of appropriate environment, husbandry, and feeding.
RSPCA Inspector Barber said: “There was no excuse for not providing those poor snakes with their basic needs and failing to seek veterinary care for them when it was abundantly clear that they so desperately needed it.
“These were awful cases and simply shouldn’t have happened. The RSPCA urges anyone struggling to take care of their animals to ask for help, rather than neglecting them and leaving them to suffer.”
According to Companies House, the Diamond Exotic shop is now under the ownership of Luke Franklin, who is believed to be Andrea Darnell’s son-in-law.
Sentencing | 12-month community order of 250 hours of unpaid work; £400 costs and £154 victim surcharge. A confiscation order was made in relation to four tarantula spiders . 10-year ban on keeping any exotic pet.
CONVICTED (2024) | Carlton James Chesney-Mitchell, born 13 September 2002, of Greenbrow Road, Wythenshawe, Manchester M23 2FT – caught on CCTV beating his dog.
Vicious Carlton Chesney-Mitchell was convicted of animal cruelty in relation to a Belgian Malinois called Anne by inflicting physical abuse on her.
The RSPCA were alerted to footage of the incident which had been posted on Facebook. It showed a man kicking and throwing a medium-sized brown dog in June last year.
Aside from physical pain, the RSPCA said Annie may suffer life-long psychological damage as a consequence of her previous owner’s violence towards her
The video shows a male in dark trousers, a blue hoodie and a black balaclava cycling towards an open garden from a field. He then throws the bike down and can be heard shouting “come here”. A dog comes into the footage before it is kicked in the face. The man then entices the dog back and kicks her again.
The man, later identified to be Chesney-Mitchell, is then heard saying: “Stop pissing me off and fucking running off, stop it” before striking Annie twice with his right hand and grabbing her by the neck with both hands and throwing her in the air. Annie can then be seen spun in mid-air before landing on her feet and running out onto the field. The male can be heard stating “Fucking piece of shit”, as he mounts his bicycle and cycles off.
Inspector Deborah Beats, who investigated, said Annie thankfully wasn’t physically injured:
Deborah said: “I reached out to those on social media who had information on this video and after a false start, I was able to speak to a member of the public who informed me the dog and the owner were at their house.
“I met Chesney-Mitchell at the member of the public’s address along with his two year old Belgian Malinois Annie. After interviewing the owner, I took Annie to be checked over by a vet where thankfully it was found that she didn’t have any injuries.”
Original post with video shared to Facebook by a concerned resident
The court heard how a vet report stated that Annie was very nervous on examination. It found that Annie would have suffered physically momentarily during the kicking, throwing and hitting episodes captured in the footage, however, the emotional impact may have a life-long effect.
The report continued: “This is shown with Annie’s fear behaviours such as cowering away from the person in the video before the second kick and cowering when her head was approached for examination. These fear behaviours along with being constantly shouted at would have caused her mental suffering.
“It is likely Annie will have been in pain for several days after this incident and will have suffered at the very least mild soft tissue injuries. This will have caused discomfort when trying to walk and display normal behaviours such as playing.
“In the video presented I can identify that the person of interest inflicts harm on Annie on at least five occasions in the form of kicking, hitting and throwing.
“They caused unnecessary suffering on multiple accounts by inflicting pain on Annie. There was no reasonable explanation for the outbursts on her visible within the video footage, as Annie was not inflicting harm on the person in question or anyone else.”
A deprivation order was imposed for Annie meaning she can now be rehomed by the RSPCA.
Deborah added: “This was a shocking and completely unnecessary attack on this poor dog. I’m glad this case has concluded and Annie can now find the loving forever home she deserves.”
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days and 100 hours of unpaid work; £200 in costs and a £114 victim surcharge. TWO-year ban on keeping dogs (expires March 2026).
