CONVICTED (2022) | Sydney Samuels, born c. 1988, of 59 Oxford Gardens, Greenfield, Maidstone ME15 8FJ – caught breaching a Community Protection Notice (CPN) imposed for hare coursing.
Officers first warned Samuels, a traveller, on 27 August 2021 following seven reports of suspected poaching taking place at Neats Court in Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey.
On 27 November he was issued with a CPN after being stopped while in a vehicle in Eastwood Road. The car was searched under The Poaching Prevention Act 1862 and inside officers found dogs and deceased rabbits.
The CPN contained several conditions, including not being allowed to be on private land without the owner’s written permission, not being allowed to have dogs off-lead and not being allowed to be in possession of a catapult or air weapon.
On 26 January 2022 officers were told of two men being seen with dogs on private land near Old Ferry Road, Iwade. Officers attended and searched the area and found a flatbed truck where a deceased rabbit was found.
They stopped two men, one of whom was Sydney Samuels, and he was arrested for again breaching the CPN.
Following Samuels’ latest court appearance, he was also issued with a three-year Criminal Behaviour Order, which contained conditions to prohibit poaching. If this is breached this can result in a custodial sentence.
Sentencing: £400 fine.
Sydney Samuels was the first person to be taken to court for breaching his CPN which was served to him as part of Op Galileo, the national initiative, which primarily aims to combat hare coursing.
In order to support the national initiative, Kent Police and six other forces – Bedfordshire, Cambridge, Herefordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex – started to work collaboratively in August 2021.
The agreement, which has been completed with the support of the Crown Prosecution Service, has allowed the seven forces to work as one when exercising certain powers. This includes sharing interactions and movements, the use of automatic number plate recognition and seizing dogs.
Sydney Samuels, who has links to travellers sites in Maidstone and Sittingbourne, is believed to be the brother of another bloodsports maniac, Jack Samuels who lives at the same address in Oxford Gardens with girlfriend Liane Clark and their children. While there is no evidence that Jack Samuels has ever been prosecuted for wildlife crime, the images and videos he uploads to his Facebook profile and various ‘bushing’ groups he admins speak for themselves.
Samuels advises anyone whose dog “can’t kill a hare” to “dump it”. What a charmer.
CONVICTED (2021) | Sean Nugent, born 17 December 1986, of 3 Keir Hardie Terrace, Shotton Colliery, Durham DH6 2PS – subjected two dogs to a violent attack
By his late teens Sean Nugent, who’s originally from Stanley, County Durham, but with links to Peterlee, Ramsgate and Wellingborough, had already racked up a long list of convictions. His offences ranged from theft and driving without a licence to more serious crimes such as GBH.
In October 2006 local newspaper the Chronicle reported how Nugent, then aged 19, had turned his life around with the help of an organisation named Smart Justice and had “no intention of returning to crime”. Instead he said he planned to mentor other young people to try to keep them on the straight and narrow.
Sadly these were merely empty words and Nugent remained on the wrong side of the criminal justice system.
Prior to his conviction for violent animal cruelty in June 2021 his most serious offence took place in 2013. Now aged 26 and living in the Trafalgar Hotel in Ramsgate, Kent. Nugent led a gang of reprobates that carried out a “degrading, sadistic and vindictive” attack on a man with learning difficulties and suffering from a rare form of epilepsy.
Nugent, who had by then moved to Wellingborough in Northamptonshire, was jailed for 43 months after admitting two assaults, possessing an offensive weapon and robbery.
Now in June 2021 and back living in County Durham, Nugent found himself before the courts yet again, this time charged with inflicting blunt force trauma on two dogs.
He was convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a tan and white American bulldog, named Apollo on November 3, 2019 and a black and White bulldog named Storm on January 15, 2020.
The condition of the dogs was not reported.
Sentencing: Nugent was given a community order. He was required to undergo anger management and rehabilitation. He was also made to pay £95 to fund victim services and £720 court costs. 10-year ban on owning dogs (expires June 2031).
CONVICTED (2018) | callous backyard breeder Janet F Oxlade (aka Janet Bremner), born c. 1951, previously of Grazeley Close, Bexleyheath, but more recently (2023) of 38 Darlington Drive Minster-on-Sea, Sheerness, Kent ME12 3LF – kept 38 dogs and 18 cats in filthy makeshift pens in her back garden and crates inside the house.
Oxlade pleaded guilty to animal welfare offences following an RSPCA raid at her home in Bexleyheath.
An independent vet who joined officers on the raid said it was some of the worst conditions he’d ever seen and compared the matted filth in the animal’s coats to “armour-plating”.
RSPCA Inspector Cliff Harrison filmed around two hours of footage as evidence. In the video he says: “There’s filth and mud everywhere and the dogs couldn’t get out of the dirt at all. It’s absolutely disgusting.
“The animals are smothered in faeces. They just don’t know where to go.
“It’s utterly disgraceful to keep animals in these conditions.”
The RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit joined Metropolitan Police to execute a warrant at the Bexleyheath property in January after calls from concerned members of the public who had bought puppies from the address in the run-up to Christmas.
“We’d had a number of complaints over recent years about this address but never had enough evidence to act on,” said RSPCA Inspector Carroll Lamport.
“In 2017, local inspectors dealt with a handful of calls and attended the property but Ms Oxlade wouldn’t let us in.
“People became suspicious of her as they were never allowed outside of the living room of the home – which was kept in pristine condition – and couldn’t see the conditions the animals were being kept in.
“Between the end of November and a few days before Christmas we had six further complaints from the public relating to Basset hounds, dachshunds and a boxer. Sadly, one of the dachshunds died of parvovirus on Christmas Day.”
Many of the animals taken into care by the RSPCA were in a dreadful state.
One Newfoundland was found with seriously deformed legs and couldn’t walk. Others suffered from severe dental disease, some with docked tails and many had eye infections and ears clogged with built-up hair and wax.
Inspector Lamport added: “These dogs were living amongst absolute chaos, there was filth and mud everywhere, and many of the animals had no access to water.
“Away from all of this mayhem, the living room was kept in absolutely pristine condition. We suspect this is the room in which members of the public were invited to meet their new puppy in order to convince them that the dogs were raised in high-quality conditions.
“The truth of what lay beyond that living room door, was far from the image they painted to the public.”
Co-defendant Glen Hayes who pleaded not guilty was tried separately.
Sentencing | 20-week suspended prison sentence; costs of £2,000. Banned from keeping animals for life
Breach of ban and further animal cruelty | Two dogs euthanised | Now living in Darlington Drive, Minster on Sea, Sheerness, Isle of Sheppey, Kent
Oxlade was told she faces time in jail after neglected cats, dogs, and a canary named Elvis were found at her home.
The vile pensioner admitted keeping dozens of flea-ridden and injured animals at her home, with two needing to be put to sleep because of the condition they were in.
The animals involved included six Yorkshire terriers, four daschunds, and four poodle-type dogs.
One offence took place on March 22, 2023 at Oxlade’s home in Darlington Drive, Minster, on Sheppey, and she was charged with another offence relating to a poodle on January 11, 2023, at Saxon Place in Dartford.
Oxlade is now charged with three counts of breaching a disqualification, two of failing in the duties of a person responsible for animal welfare, as well as causing unnecessary suffering to a canary.
Sophie Reed, representing the RSPCA, told the court a member of the public made contact with Oxlade after she advertised a poodle puppy for sale. After visiting the Sheppey woman the following day, the buyer searched her name online and saw she had been banned from owning animals and then reported her to the animal charity.
As a result, police and the RSPCA carried out a visit to Oxlade’s address and many of the animals were discovered flea-ridden and in small crates. A canary was also discovered underweight, with a scaly leg infection, cysts, abscesses, and feather loss.
In an interview with officers after the raid, Oxlade said she had the animals to support her as she had become “isolated and depressed” without them. She claims she had to move out of Bexley following her ban in 2018.
Oxlade admitted she owned some poodle dogs to breed but she only produced one litter a year. She also owned a rottweiler, returned to her by her daughter. This dog had to be euthanised due to his poor condition.
The defendant claimed she didn’t understand she was still banned from owning animals and thought that had ended when she paid off a £2,000 fine from the 2018 incident.
Ms Reed explained: “Two animals had to be euthanised, many were covered in fleas and lived in poor housing such as small cages with no natural light.
“They displayed fear and anxiety when approached.”
The court heard Oxlade has a number of physical issues and conditions, as well as some mental health issues.
The defendant was told she faces time in custody and will be sentenced at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 8, 2024, following a pre-sentence report.
Appearing at Sevenoaks Magistrates’ Court on Friday, March 8, 2024, Oxlade was given a 120-day prison term, suspended for two years. She must also undergo at least 20 Rehabilitation Activity Requirement (RAR) sessions.
Oxlade was told that if she breaches her ban again she will go to prison.
CONVICTED (2018) | animal sanctuary owner Sara Jane Ross, born 1 February 1954, of Gardeners Cottage, Chalky Lane, Boughton-under-Blean, Faversham ME13 9SP – failed to meet the needs of horses, cats, dogs and birds in her care.
Ross founded the Animal Sanctuary UK, based in Lake End Road, Dorney, Windsor, Berkshire, which was raided by the RSPCA on May 31, 2017.
The sanctuary had fallen into a state of disrepair with dilapidated, vermin-infested sheds housing animals, abandoned industrial machinery lying around and piles of litter and manure in animal enclosures.
RSPCA experts had reported horses lying or standing in their own urine or faeces on boggy paddocks that did not have enough grass. They criticised a lack of food and the presence of flies and vermin – with rats running in and out of the animals’ cages.
Appalling conditions on Sara Ross’s animal sanctuary
Seven cats and eight dogs were confined together inside a single caravan.
Vast swathes of litter were also found where the animals slept, as well as dead rats and mice strewn about. Inspectors found three adult cats confined to a cage only big enough for a kitten.
Other livestock were kept in cramped conditions while some stood as high as 6ft off the ground on rotting hay. They were suffering numerous diseases and many were kept in tiny cages which were unfit for purpose.
The judge saw further clips of the video which showed birds kept in tiny cages with small rings attached to their legs cutting into the flesh. Included also was a turkey kept in a tiny living space fit only for small birds.
Hazel Stevens, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said that the appalling conditions were found after whistleblowers reported the cruelty, abuse and lack of care.
The prosecutor said: ‘Statements from various volunteers suggest the abuse had been ongoing for some time and this abuse took place in a commercial context.
‘Volunteers were allowed to manage and run the farm who had insufficient experience or training to be running such a farm.’
‘The RSPCA had in fact discovered that she (Ross) had hidden many of the animals off-site. Many of those animals have not since re-appeared and could not be found in a second RSPCA check.’
Ross first set up the now-disbanded Horse Refuge in 1994 before opening The Animal Sanctuary UK in June 2012.
She pleaded guilty to six charges of failing to meet the needs of the animals and birds in her care.
District judge Sophie Toms told her: “Something went very badly wrong. I accept you had no intention of mistreating any animals.
“In your mind you were doing your best but your best was not good enough.”
Nigel Weller, representing Ross, said she had been the victim of a hate campaign.
He said: “Some of them are in court. They have ‘trolled’ my client over the internet running down everything she does.
“They bombarded Windsor and Maidenhead Council with thousands of complaints.”
The council subsequently withdrew from a deal to help her move to a better site in Bell Lane, Eton Wick.
Mr Weller said Ross had suffered a serious accident four months before the raid when a horse had trampled her, injuring her foot so badly that she needed four operations and had been unable to attend to the sanctuary as she would have liked to.
He said: “She has been devoted to her sanctuary since 2012. She sold her house in 2005 to devote her assets and money to looking after animals. For 38 years she has been involved in sanctuary work.”
Judge Toms said that the problems on the site clearly dated back to before Ross’ accident.
Ross’s co-defendant Hayley Poturici, born July 1992, of Frensham Walk, Farnham Common, who worked at the sanctuary, faced no further action after she accepted an official RSPCA caution.
Sentencing: ordered to do 135 hours of unpaid work and pay £750 costs. Disqualified from keeping animals for five years (later reduced to 12 months on appeal). Deprivation order issued preventing Ross’s dogs being returned to her.
CONVICTED (2009) | breeder Melanie Jean King, born 10/08/1954, of Station Farm, Station Road, Appledore, Ashford TN26 2DG – kept dozens of dogs in cramped and squalid conditions
Melanie King, formerly of Whents Farm in Teynham, near Sittingbourne, was given a suspended prison sentence, ordered to undertake unpaid work and to pay over £1000 in costs to Swale Council after breaching the conditions of her dog-breeding licence.
She was sentenced at Sittingbourne Magistrates’ Court after pleading guilty to 24 offences under Section 1 of the Breeding of Dogs Act 1973.
The court was shown a number of images of 40 dogs on her farm kept in cramped and squalid conditions.
Vets inspecting the premises in December 2008 had raised serious concerns about breeding conditions at the establishment.
It was agreed a new licence would be granted to King for a temporary period. This was to allow her time to deal with hygiene issues raised.
But on three further inspections by council officers and the RSPCA between February and March 2009, numerous breaches of the breeding licence were discovered which led to the prosecution.
In sentencing, magistrates told King that had she failed to plead guilty at an early stage, they would have imposed a custodial sentence.
Speaking after sentencing, Swale council’s environmental response manager, Alister Andrews, said: “This conviction is a significant victory not only for us, but also for the animals which were kept at this establishment.”
Sentencing: 140-day suspended prison sentence; 150 hours’ unpaid work; £1,100 costs. Banned for life from breeding dogs, although this was reduced on appeal to just seven years in 2011 (expired).
