CONVICTED (2024) | Harry Locker, born 7 January 2000, of Nethergate Street in Hopton, near Diss IP22 2QZ – placed a live chicken into a cage containing ferrets and filmed as the bird was attacked and slowly killed.
Locker pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, by causing a ferret to attack a white coloured chicken.
The RSPCA was alerted to the incident by a member of the public that the bird had been deliberately put in the cage with the ferrets.
The defendant was arrested and three videos were found on his phone showing his ferrets attacking and killing the chicken.
A vet who examined the videos said the suffering was caused directly by the person who placed the bird in with the ferrets and that based on the videos it appeared the bird took three minutes to die – during which time it was repeatedly attacked and bitten.
Speaking after the case RSPCA Inspector Caroline Richardson said: “The footage is very difficult to watch. Animals are sentient creatures who feel emotions and this poor bird was made to suffer for almost three minutes while it was attacked.
“I am pleased the defendant has been held to account for his actions. I hope this case sends out a clear message that deliberate cruelty of this kind is not ever acceptable.”
The ferrets were signed over to the RSPCA.
In mitigation the defendant said that he had mental health issues and that this was a foolish thing to have done.
Sentencing | 18 month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work and 15 rehabilitation activity requirement days; A total of £1,964 in costs and victim surcharge. Banned from keeping all animals, except for dogs, for five years (expires January 2029).
CONVICTED (2022) | gamekeeper Matthew Stroud, born c. 1976, of Keepers Cottage, Fengate, Weeting, Brandon IP27 0QF – illegally shot and poisoned birds of prey.
Stroud dosed dead pheasants with poison as bait to kill buzzards in woodlands near Weeting Heath and Breckland Forest, which are both protected sites.
Appearing at Norwich Magistrates Court he admitted shooting five buzzards and one goshawk, the poisoning of another buzzard, the laying of poison baits and illegal possession of poisons including strychnine.
He also became the first person convicted for the unauthorised release of game birds on a Special Protection Area (SPA).
Despite the gravity of his offences Stroud walked free from court with a paltry fine and a community sentence.
The court heard an investigation was launched when RSPB officers found a young pheasant dead in Belvedere Wood, Weeting, on August 19, 2021, that had been poisoned.
Police later also searched Stroud’s home where they found three dead buzzards that x-rays showed had been shot. Two pheasant carcasses with extremely high levels of strychnine and a poisoned common buzzard were found in Belvedere Wood, protected because of its internationally important population of stone curlews. His mobile phone was also found to contain photos of a dead goshawk and five dead buzzards.
Stroud, a self-employed gamekeeper at Fengate Farm, pleaded guilty to six counts of killing a common buzzard and of killing a northern goshawk, both protected species. He also admitted possessing four shotguns to kill wild birds, poison without a licence and storing poison incorrectly and releasing 3,400 pheasants into the wild contrary to the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.
Michael Horn, mitigating, said: “There has been a shoot in this area for over 300 years. In 2020 there were no shoots held for obvious reasons. The next year the defendant was, perhaps wrongfully and unlawfully, very keen to restart it.
“At the time these pheasants were being decimated by these buzzards. His livelihood was being decimated.”
Mark Thomas, head of RSPB Investigations UK, said: “It is difficult not to be disappointed with the outcome today considering the significance of the offences and combined efforts of the agencies involved.
“Laying poison baits out in the open is not only illegal but extremely dangerous and irresponsible.
“Baits like those being used at Fengate Farm present a deadly risk to any animal or person that might come across it. It is particularly troubling that this was happening on an SPA, a designated area where wildlife and nature should have the highest legal protection.”
PC Chris Shelley, Norfolk police rural crime officer, said: “This investigation is one of the biggest cases of its kind that we have dealt with in Norfolk. “Stroud’s actions were dangerous and inhumane – he shot and poisoned birds of prey as he saw fit, and at will, because it suited him to do so.
“He also used a highly dangerous poison – one that has been banned in the UK for the last 15 years – indiscriminately, which could have had a disastrous effect on other local wildlife and showed a scant disregard for the safety of others.”
In a statement the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) said: “There is no space for illegality in the countryside, nor in the shooting community.
“BASC has a zero-tolerance approach to the illegal killing of birds of prey. Shooting’s contribution to conservation efforts and the rural economy is too great to allow the criminal actions of a tiny minority jeopardise the ongoing benefits.
“Positively, these cases are becoming rarer and population levels of most UK birds of prey are at record highs, much of this is down to the conservation efforts of shooting interests.”
Sentencing | 12-month community order with 200 hours of unpaid work; fined £692.
CONVICTED (2020) | Jack Christopher Green, born 15/10/1993, of Sycamore Avenue, Golcar, near Huddersfield, but with links to Longwood, Huddersfield, Leeds and Newmarket – subjected a Patterjack X Dachshund puppy to a life of pain and abuse
Agricultural worker Green was prosecuted by the CPS following an investigation by Suffolk Police. The court heard how he subjected the tiny dog, known as Pippin, to repeated acts of cruelty between 18 January 2019 and 2 May 2019.
Pippin was five months old when she was discovered by police outside an address in Newmarket on 1 May 2019. At the time, she was sporting a white bandage on her right foreleg and Green claimed that she may have fallen from a vehicle. He said that he took her to the vets who told him to treat the injury himself, therefore placing a makeshift bandage on her leg with the use of duct tape and a toilet roll holder.
Officers were not happy with her injury, treatment and his explanation so they seized Pippin and sought immediate veterinary attention. The vet established that her right foreleg showed a severe leg injury that would require some intensive treatment.
In the autumn Green was charged at magistrates court with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and pleaded guilty to this charge.
Pippin was rehomed having initially being placed into the care of the RSPCA and attended a vet every two days for three months so she could have her bandages changed. Following her rehoming, Pippin continues to learn to interact with her new family and other animals.
PC Victoria McNamara said: “As a Wildlife Crime Officer for Suffolk Police, I have a specific interest in animal welfare. Animals of all kinds are often hidden victims of crime and animal abuse can be a gateway to other offences being committed, it is wholly unacceptable to cause suffering to any animal and we will investigate and prosecute those offenders, bringing them to justice.
“In the case of Pippin, she was a little puppy who had for the first few months of her life suffered cruelty at the hands of her owner. She was not in the best condition, she weighed 3.1kg and was on pain relief for quite a few weeks due to her fractured leg. Over the last few months with correct care, adequate nutrition and lots of love, Pippin has flourished.
“Alongside A/PS Rebecca Webster, the rural crime unit and colleagues at West Yorkshire police roads policing unit in making the arrest we have all made a difference to the life of a puppy. Coupled with the expertise of Criminal Justice Unit Case Management Officer Jo Foley, it really has been a team effort in bringing the defendant to justice over his actions against this little dog.”
Sentencing |12-week custodial sentence; £200 compensation. Disqualified from owning animals for just five years (expires June 2025).
CONVICTED (2018) | Graham Lee John Charles Anstey, born 15/10/1974, formerly of Trackside Farm, Yeovil and currently of Spooner Road, Wymondham, Norfolk NR18 – caught on CCTV kicking a cow before pushing her head into a concrete floor and pulling on her tail.
Heartless livestock worker now lives in Wymondham, Norfolk
The appalling footage showed Anstey spending 30 minutes trying to “violently” move the collapsed animal at an abattoir in Bridport, Dorset, before abandoning her on a ramp.
He pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cow, failing to record livestock movements and breaching TB disease controls.
Sentence: fined £850 and ordered to pay £2,000 towards prosecution costs.
