British crocodile expert jailed for dog abuse

His crimes shocked the nation

Adam Britton, a crocodile expert, pleaded guilty to 56 charges relating to bestiality and animal cruelty. He also admitted to four counts of accessing child abuse material.

The Northern Territory Supreme Court heard that the 53-year-old filmed himself torturing the animals until almost all died and shared the videos under a pseudonym online.

The abuse went on for years unnoticed, until a clue was spotted in one of his videos. Britton was arrested in April 2022 after a search of his property in Darwin where child abuse material on his laptop was also uncovered.

Chief Justice Michael Grant warned the courtroom that some of the detail of Britton’s crimes could cause ‘nervous shock’.

As the facts of the case were read out, some members of public rushed out of the courtroom whilst others in the gallery mouthed insults to Britton who hung his head and occasionally reached for the tissues.

Justice Grant called his offending ‘devious’. He said: “Your depravity falls entirely outside any ordinary human conception.”

Britton could be eligible for parole in September 2028 and is banned from owning mammals for the rest of his life.

Britton’s lawyer argued that he suffered a rare disorder causing intense, atypical sexual interests.

A letter from Mr Britton was read to the court: “I deeply regret the pain and trauma that I caused to innocent animals and consequently to my family, friends and members of the community.

“I will seek long term treatment and… I will find a path towards redemption.”

According to the BBC, he tortured at least 42 dogs, killing 39 of them in an 18-month period leading up to his arrest.

Court documents say Britton was harbouring a ‘sadistic sexual interest’ in animals and exchanges with ‘like-minded’ people in online chatrooms detail how Britton began by molesting a horse at age 13.

In a message read out in court he wrote: “I was sadistic as a child to animals, but 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.”

In a Telegram chat entered into evidence he wrote: “My own dogs are family and I have limits. I only badly mistreat other dogs... I have no emotional bond to them, they are toys pure and simple. And [there are] plenty more where they came from.”

He used Gumtree to find animals that owners were reluctantly giving up due to travel or work commitments, build up a rapport with them before convincing them to give him custody of their pets.

He would then abuse the animals and filmed his crimes in a shipping container on his property but often went to great lengths to conceal his identity.

However, in one clip, a bright orange City of Darwin dog leash could be seen in the background.

The footage was passed to police who arrested Britton in April 2022 and he has been remanded in custody ever since.