Two men have been jailed for animal cruelty offences following an investigation by officers from Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, with support from colleagues in Hampshire.
Kristen Cooper, aged 24, and of Bransgore in Hampshire, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on Friday 19 January 2024 after admitting seven offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal following an investigation by Dorset Police. He was also sentenced for further offences in Hampshire.
Cooper received a total prison sentence of five years.
The charges followed a warrant executed at the defendant’s address on Monday 3 October 2022.
Officers seized the defendant’s phone, and on it they found several videos showing the defendants causing unnecessary suffering to animals, mainly in rural areas at night.
They showed Cooper causing suffering to injured deer and hares and, in some cases, encouraging dogs to attack them. There were also videos showing wildlife with injuries, suggesting they had been mutilated. The videos were reviewed by an expert as part of the prosecution process, who described them as some of the worst cases of animal abuse he had seen in 24 years.
Cooper also admitted handling stolen goods, relating to the handling of equipment that had been taken from farms in East Dorset.
Cooper entered further guilty pleas to two charges of criminal damage and an offence of intentionally encouraging or assisting the commission of a criminal offence relating to an incident where a vehicle was driven deliberately at a police car and a further two cars on Christchurch Road in Bournemouth in December 2021. He was also sentenced for using a motor vehicle on a road or public place without third-party insurance and driving a vehicle otherwise than in accordance with a licence.
His co-defendant Todd Cooper, aged 29 and of Sway in Hampshire, was sentenced to a total of three years and eight months after admitting an animal cruelty offence that involved him and Kristen Cooper holding down a deer while he struck it over the head with a blunt object.
Both Kristen and Todd Cooper were also sentenced for assault and weapons offences committed in the New Forest area of Hampshire in March 2023.
Additionally, Kristen Copper was made the subject of a ten-year Criminal Behaviour Order which includes conditions preventing him from being in possession of a catapult and from being on agricultural or farmland between the hours of 12am and 6am. He was also banned from owning a dog for a period of ten years.
Another defendant – Leo Shields, aged 26 and from Bournemouth – was previously sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 16 February 2023 for three counts of criminal damage, one of which involved ramming a police car. He was sentenced to a community order for a period of 18 months with a requirement to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work in the community as well as a rehabilitation activity requirement. Shields was also ordered to pay £85 in costs and a victim surcharge of £95.
Police Constable Sebastian Haggett, of Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team, said, “Kristen and Todd Cooper have today been sentenced following a proactive investigation led by Dorset Police’s Rural Crime Team and assisted by colleagues from Hampshire.
“This investigation has uncovered a large number of offences that targeted both our rural communities and wildlife. Cooper repeatedly subjected animals to horrific levels of pain and suffering, seemingly for his own and others’ amusement. These are without doubt some of the most horrifying offences I have ever investigated.
“We will continue to work with our partner forces and the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure offenders are held to account.”
Inspector Darren Ord, from Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary, said: “This was a lengthy investigation that has showcased excellent partnership working between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary and Dorset Police.
“These horrific crimes have caused a great deal of harm and suffering, and we are pleased that these crimes have been recognised with this sentencing and the offenders have been brought to justice.
“We take reports of rural crime extremely seriously, and our officers will continue to work with partners to show criminals that offences of this kind will not be tolerated in Hampshire or across our borders.”
Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner David Sidwick said: “I’d like to thank every officer and partner agency involved in this investigation. To bring such a prolific offender to justice is very reassuring. Kristen Cooper has committed deplorable and sickening acts of cruelty as well as offences that strike at the heart of our rural community, and I am pleased to see that he has received this sentence from the court today.
“I hope this sends a clear message that Dorset Police takes all rural crime, including wildlife crime, seriously and will be reassured to know that cross-border, inter-agency, partnership working will continue and will grow as we strive to make Dorset the safest county.”
Angharad Thomas, CPS Wessex Wildlife Lead, said: “This was a shocking case, involving unimaginable violence and cruelty to animals on a level that I have, thankfully, rarely seen before.
“Working closely with the Rural Crime Team throughout, we were able to make sure we had all the evidence we needed for a strong prosecution case, ensuring that these defendants faced justice for their cruelty and absolute disregard for protected animals.”
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