CONVICTED (2011) | persistent wildlife persecutor Christian Latcham, born c. 1987, of Morton Terrace, Tonypandy, Rhondda Cynon Taf CF40 2DP
Blood sports enthusiast Latcham – a father of six – pleaded guilty to two charges under the Animal Welfare Act and six charges under the Badger Act.
The serial abuser was prosecuted after evidence of sickening cruelty towards badgers, foxes and deer were discovered on his mobile phone.
Prosecuting, Geraint Richards described to the court the disturbing pictures of a severed badger head, a photo of Latcham’s dogs savaging a badger and an image of a bloodstained Latcham holding up animal carcasses.
The court heard how, on being arrested in 2009 for a separate offence, Latcham had aroused officers’ suspicion as he hurried to conceal his mobile phone.
When the police seized his phone they viewed images of the defendant holding up the carcasses of foxes, deer and badgers.
Clive Rees, defending, said the defendant lacked empathy and had limited social skills.
He said: “He has been unable to put himself in the place of the animals he was dealing with and to think and see through the things he was doing.”
Chairman of the bench Mike Hanley said: “These were deliberate and unprovoked actions which speak of unspeakable cruelty.”
Two dogs used to savage the badgers were taken away from Latcham.
RSPCA inspector Simon Evans said badger baiting had become a prevalent problem in South Wales.
He said: “Offending evidence in this type of case is rare, but this isn’t a one off.”
Sentencing: Five-month prison sentence, suspended for one year; 250 hours of unpaid work; £1,000 costs. Disqualified indefinitely from keeping dogs.
Update 2018
Despite having been banned indefinitely from keeping dogs Christian Latcham featured in an episode of BBC Wales Investigates entitled ‘The Secret World of Badger Baiters’.
The episode showed that Latcham not only had dogs but was still actively engaged in badger baiting alongside Jamie Rush. Other associates include Tomas Young and Ryan Harrison, who were jailed for badger baiting in June 2019. Young’s cruelty included skinning a badger cub alive before feeding it to his dogs.