Yorkshire dog rapist sobs in court, faces life sentence

A British man who filmed himself raping, torturing and killing dogs faces 249 years in prison in Australia.

Adam Britton, 53, was born in West Yorkshire and has a degree in zoology from the University of Leeds and a doctorate from the University of Bristol. He admitted 60 counts of cruelty and animal abuse in a shipping container last year.

Britton, a senior researcher at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia, faces a maximum sentence of 249 years in prison for life. He is charged with eight counts of sodomy, four counts of possession and distribution of child abuse material and 37 counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.

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In the courtroom, Britton’s representatives said he suffered from “paraphilia” during the two years in which the crimes occurred, a disorder in which a person has intense sexual fantasies about objects, places or situations that are considered atypical.

As this condition was discussed in court, Britton could be seen wiping a tear from his face as a security guard handed him tissues. The case was adjourned pending a psychiatric report and is scheduled to resume on August 8.

Presiding Judge Grant said the details were “confronting and disturbing” as he dismissed security guards and police officers from the courtroom, adding that there could be “negative psychological reactions” among those listening to them.

Britton had worked for many years in Australia at a wild crocodile sanctuary called Big Gecko, selling footage of the animals to the BBC and National Geographic. He was a frequent social media user sharing images of his animals.

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Over the course of two years, Britton managed to get 42 dogs from Gumtree before brutally attacking them, often taking pets from unsuspecting families who couldn’t keep their dogs.

Britton once described seeing children crying as he walked away with their dogs.

These animals were tortured, raped or killed in his home and a shipping container on his property between 2022 and 2022. He also abused his two white Swiss Shepherd dogs, Ursa and Bolt.

He even posted the video on Telegram for other perpetrators. In one message he wrote: “I had repressed it. In the last few years I let it out again and now I can’t stop. I don’t want to.”

This eventually caught the attention of an online detective who identified Britton and called police, who searched his home in Darwin. They seized 44 devices and tools from his home and found files on his computer containing child abuse cases.