Adam Britton in court: How long he could spend in prison for sadistic dog abuse
With fresh delays expected in court, the NT News has answered all of your questions about Adam Britton’s depraved bestiality killing plot. WARNING: DISTRESSING.
Police & Courts
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It is a crime that has sickened and shocked the world, and those anxious to see Adam Britton brought to justice for his sadistic bestiality pet killing plot will edge closer to learning his fate this week.
Britton is due to face the NT Supreme Court in Darwin on Thursday morning for sentencing submissions.
It has been a drawn-out affair to get to this point, with submissions in the case originally listed for December before being pushed back to February, then May and finally on Thursday, July 11, lawyers from both prosecution and defence are expected to present information about Britton's character and psychological background, to help inform the judge’s sentencing.
Who is Adam Britton?
Adam Robert Corden Britton was a prominent Northern Territory crocodile specialist, known and respected internationally for his research and expertise into the reptiles.
The 52-year-old holds a PhD in zoology and worked as a Senior Research Associate at Charles Darwin University.
He was also co-chief of Top End crocodilian research and consulting business Big Gecko, with his then wife.
Britton regularly made television appearances and worked on several well-known shows including Walking with Dinosaurs, Bear Gryll’s Man vs. Wild, Steve Backshall’s Deadly 60, and National Geographic’s Nature Untamed.
He was a scientific adviser on David Attenborough’s 2008 documentary Life in Cold Blood, and it was reported that Britton hosted Sir Attenborough at his Darwin home during filming.
Britton’s pet saltwater crocodile Smaug, which he kept on his McMinns Lagoon property, also starred in the doco.
“If you’ve ever seen an underwater shot of a saltwater crocodile, there’s a good chance it’s Smaug,” Britton told the NT News in 2018.
What did Adam Britton do?
Adam Britton has admitted to killing at least 39 dogs – which he called “f--- toys” – raping puppies, running a “torture room” on his McMinns Lagoon property, and advising others in “zoo-sadism”.
The property has since been placed on the market.
It was revealed Britton would sadistically torture, sexually exploit and kill pet dogs he sourced by promising a “forever home”, before telling their former owners they were “settling in well”.
Most details of his crimes are too confronting to be published.
In a rare move, the judge overseeing Britton’s case excused the Sheriff’s officers and told security guards they could wait outside the courtroom rather than having to listen to details of his offending.
“The facts contain material describing acts that can only be described as grotesque perversity and cruelty which are both confronting and distressing and which in my assessment have the potential to cause nervous shock,” Chief Justice Michael Grant said at the time.
Crown prosecutor Marty Aust told the court Britton had a sadistic sexual interest in animals – in particular dogs – dating back to at least 2014, when he began engaging in sexual activities with his two Swiss-Sheppards, Ursa and Bolt.
Between November 17, 2020, and April 22, 2022, he sourced 42 dogs of varying breeds and ages, which he later tortured and sexually exploited for sadistic sexual pleasure, and killing most of them, the court heard.
A search of Britton’s laptop also found 15 child abuse material files he had sourced online, including a toddler being forced to engage in bestiality.
Where is Adam Britton from?
Britton was born in West Yorkshire on February 19, 1971, and grew up in the UK.
According to his LinkedIn, Britton attended the Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Wakefield and completed a science degree with Honours in Zoology at the University of Leeds.
He graduated with a PhD in bat echolocation from the University of Bristol in 1996 before moving to Australia, where his work focused on crocodiles.
In 2004 he bought a two hectare property at 100 McMinns Dr, McMinns Lagoon – about half an hour from Darwin City – where he lived with his wife.
Did his family know?
There is no suggestion Britton’s family knew about his offending.
According to a 2014 interview, Britton’s father was a judge in the UK, and his mother was a legal secretary.
Mr Aust told the court in September that while Britton lived with his wife at their McMinns Lagoon home, “she spent significant periods of time away from the residence due to the nature of her employment”.
How did police catch him?
Britton often filmed himself abusing the dogs, and in editing he blacked out identifying features that could be traced back to him, before he would share the videos online.
But on March 22 last year, an anonymous Gmail user sent a tip to the Northern Territory Animal Welfare Branch after spotting a Darwin council “Great Pets Start With You” orange leash in clip titled ‘1Bitch9Pups’, which showed a man – later identified as Britton – sexually exploiting, torturing and killing one adult female dog and at least eight puppies.
Under the banner of “Operation Haine” investigators from animal welfare, the NT Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team and Australian Federal Police narrowed in on Britton, resulting in an early morning raid at his home a month later on April 22.
A search of the residence resulted in 44 items being seized including computers, mobile phones, cameras, external hard drives, tools, weapons, dog paraphernalia and sex toys.
Detectives also discovered severed dog limbs in a freezer, a decomposing puppy in a pond, and a severed dog head on a neighbouring property.
Britton has remained in custody since his arrest.
What is the maximum penalty in the Northern Territory for animal cruelty?
At the time of Britton’s offending, serious animal cruelty offences in the Northern Territory carried a maximum penalty of two years in prison.
While that has since been increased to five years, the law requires he be sentenced based on what the penalty was at the time of his crimes.
Britton pleaded guilty to 37 counts of aggravated animal cruelty.
If served back to back, this could add up to 74 years, however it is the norm in the Territory for judges to hand down concurrent or partially concurrent sentences, meaning terms of imprisonment are served at the same time.
Britton also pleaded to 10 bestiality charges, which carry a maximum penalty of three years.
The NT is the most lenient jurisdiction in the country for bestiality.
Along with these charges, he will be sentenced for three counts of non-aggravated animal cruelty, four counts of possessing or transmitting child abuse material, four counts of using a carriage service in an offensive way, and two counts of breaching his duty of care to dogs Bolt and Ursa.
A petition calling on the NT government to increase penalties to 15 years for extreme animal cruelty was started in response to Britton’s crimes and has gained nearly 9000 signatures.
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