“The world’s worst animal abuser,” zoologist Adam Britton, faces maximum sentence for raping and killing over 60 dogs

The final hearing in the animal cruelty case against Adam Britton, a British crocodile expert, was adjourned on Thursday as his lawyer presented a new report to the court.

The final hearing in the animal cruelty case involving British crocodile expert and zoologist Adam Britton was adjourned on July 11 after his lawyer presented a new report to the judge. The next hearing is scheduled for August. Britton was accused of torturing, raping and killing several dogs. He faces a maximum sentence of 249 years in prison in Australia. In 2023, the British zoologist pleaded guilty to more than 60 counts of animal cruelty against him.

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The court, presided over by Northern Territory Supreme Court Justice Michael Grant, asked staff and animal rights activists to leave the courtroom before the hearing.

“In my opinion, the material can cause nervous shock or another psychological disorder,” he said, according to ABC. The judge described the act as “grotesque animal cruelty.”

Shortly before the final verdict, the defendant’s lawyer presented a new piece of evidence and asked the judge to consider it. This piece of evidence detailed his mental state as determined after nearly thirty hours of counseling with a psychologist while in custody.

“Remorse is considered evidence of the prospect of rehabilitation, as is insight. These are things that may not be present in the first conversation with someone in a professional capacity. They are things that often develop over the course of treatment. They are not set in stone,” Britton’s lawyer was quoted as saying.

The lawyer argued for a lighter sentence for his client, emphasizing the hardship his client went through due to an illness he had suffered since early childhood. The legal representative emphasized that this illness is often stigmatized in many communities, which further increases the person’s struggle in transitioning to adulthood.

Britton, who is considered the “worst animal abuser in the world”, burst into tears in court before his sentence was announced.

ABC’s report reveals a disturbing account of him being known for maliciously injuring and killing dogs in his home in Darwin, Australia. Even more shocking, he even recorded these brutal acts. Britton maintained what could chillingly be described as a “torture chamber,” essentially a shipping container, where he not only mistreated the dogs, but also sexually abused them.