Adam Britton, a renowned zoologist, has confessed to 60 heinous crimes involving the rape, torture and killing of dogs. The 53-year-old now faces a potential sentence of up to 249 years in Australia.
The leading British crocodile expert confessed to bestiality and a plethora of animal sexual abuse charges filed against him in Australia in September last year.
His case shocked and angered animal rights activists and the public alike as the details of his disturbing actions came to light.
Britton has confessed to an interest in âzoo-sadismâ and, in numerous online messages presented to the Northern Territory Supreme Court, he guided other people on how to perpetrate similar acts of abuse.
When Britton appeared for sentencing submissions recently, the court was told about the psychiatric condition called paraphilia that afflicted him.
Who is Adam Britton?
Born in 1972 as Adam Robert Corden Britton, he graduated from Queen Elizabethâs Grammar School in 1987 and earned an Honours degree in Zoology from the University of Leeds in 1992.
Britton completed his PhD in Zoology from the University of Bristol in 1996.
He moved to Australia that same year and met his future wife, Erin, a wildlife ranger and biologist. The couple established a consultancy specialising in wild crocodiles.
Britton gained international recognition as a crocodile expert and collaborated with prominent figures like David Attenborough. He contributed to various documentaries and educational programs for the BBC and National Geographic.
He was a research associate at Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia, and appeared on the Discovery Channel programme âAnimal Face-Offâ, further cementing his reputation as a leading authority on crocodiles.
His career came to be overshadowed by his criminal activities after he confessed to a raft of charges involving the rape, torture, and killing of dogs, which he used to commit inside a shipping container dubbed the âtorture roomâ.
What are the charges against him?
The Australian court has been told that Britton used to source rescue dogs on the online classifieds website Gumtree Australia, offering to rehome them at his expansive property near Darwin.
He would reportedly film himself torturing the animals and post the videos on online platforms using pseudonyms âMonsterâ and âCerberusâ. He would also allegedly access child abuse material on these platforms.
His disturbing actions led to the deaths of 39 dogs.
He has also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material.
âI was talking with someone else about why I love to hurt dogs,â he wrote in a secret chat group. âI wasnât sure at first, but now I live for it. I canât stop myself hurting dogs.â
âI 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 canât stop. I donât want to.â
He added a smiley.
Australian authorities were alerted to Brittonâs activities by an anonymous person. They then launched âOperation Haineâ, which resulted in a search warrant for Brittonâs McMinns Lagoon home on Darwinâs outskirts. In the course of their inquiry, law enforcement uncovered unsettling footage shot by Britton revealing his acts of animal cruelty.
He was arrested in April 2022.
Brittonâs lawyer â who has sought to remain anonymous due to the threats they have been receiving for repressing Britton â recently presented the court with a fresh report on the zoologistâs âparaphiliaâ. Itâs a psychological term to describe a condition characterised by intense sexual fantasies, urges, or behaviours involving atypical objects, situations, or individuals.
What happened at the latest hearing?
At the hearing on Thursday, Brittonâs lawyer reportedly told the court about his âparaphiliaâ due to which the court was adjourned.
Before the hearing commenced, the Northern Territory Supreme Court judge Michael Grant asked his staff and animal rights activists to vacate the room due to the grotesque nature of the actions committed by Britton.
âThis is a human being who has been afflicted by a condition since very early childhood,â Brittonâs lawyer said. âIt is not his fault that he had that.â
âThis particular condition is exceptionally taboo in most societies and the court can, and I hope would, accept that that would have been a very difficult thing to grow up with and learn to manage into adulthood.â
The lead prosecutor, Marty Aust, however, said Britton derived âentrenched enjoymentâ from his perverse sexual interest in animals.
âThere was significant planning to the extent that it was quite a production, with multiple cameras, tripods, various recording equipment, production values, editing,â he told the court.
âIf you watch that footage you will see the extreme pleasure and enjoyment that this man had in creating this and doing these acts. His sheer delight goes to the core of it ⌠itâs difficult to read, itâs difficult to hear but to see it, really is something other.â
Mr Aust said that âmuch like any other human being who has a particular sexual interestâ Britton was âable to rationally determine whether to act on that interestâ.
âHe has done so and then, with the incitement and the encouragement of other like-minded persons, he has offended in a way thatâs almost beyond description in terms of its significant depravity,â he said.
Mr Aust said that even if Brittonâs condition were treatable, âthere remains a constant risk of its recurrenceâ.
At a hearing early this year, judge Grant had doubted whether any psychiatric evidence could diminish Brittonâs moral responsibility for his actions.
âA serial killer canât say, for example, âMy moral culpability is reduced because I suffer from psychopathyâ,â he said in February. âI just canât see where the evidence is going here.â
British crocodile expert, Zoologist Adam Britton @adambritton faces 249yr jail for raping, killing over 60 dogs.
He was diagnosed with a condition called paraphilia which is characterised by abnormal sexual desires, involving extreme or dangerous activities. SICKENING! pic.twitter.com/8VMQRghWFpâ Kaveri đŽđł (@ikaveri) July 15, 2024
Reaction to the charges against Britton
Brittonâs sentencing was delayed for the third time after his lawyer submitted a fresh report to the judge. He will be back in court next month.
Former Northern Territory lawmaker Ross Bohlin said the sentencing delay was an âabuse of the judicial processâ.
âIt would be good to think today brought an end to this psychopathic level of abuse. Unfortunately, the adjournment will only continue the pain,â he said.
Protesting outside the courthouse recently, animal rights activists displayed signs demanding justice, including calls for the death penalty and âjustice for the innocent victims of Adam Brittonâ.
âHeâs got to be punished so people donât think that animals are something that can be exploited and abused,â one protester said.
They realised the death penalty âisnât going to happenâ, the protester told the ABC, âbut incarcerated forever would be my personal choiceâ.
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