WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A depraved zoologist who was jailed for a decade for filming the rape and torture of domestic dogs was never attracted to humans, despite his 16-year marriage, and fantasised about animals from the age of six.
Adam Robert Corden Britton, 53, was sentenced this month to 10 years and five months behind bars, with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his arrest in April 2022.
Britton, who was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Darwin to pursue a career in zoology, pleaded guilty to 63 counts of animal abuse, bestiality and possession of child exploitation material.
He sourced the dogs from Gumtree Australia over a two-year period for the sole purpose of torturing them to death on camera, but told the former owners their pets were enjoying their new home.
The dogs were usually already dead by the time the news was communicated to their former owners. Most suffered horrific abuse and were slowly killed over a matter of days.
On Thursday, the Northern Territory Supreme Court published remarks by Chief Justice of the Northern Territory Michael Grant.
The 42-page document, obtained by Daily Mail Australia, offers a horrifying insight into Britton’s privileged childhood, which was plagued by depraved sexual fantasies, including sneaking into paddocks at age 10 to hug horses and eat their hair.
Judge Grant said he took psychological reports into account when handing down his punishment and noted that Britton had tried to evade a lengthy sentence with a variety of weak excuses.
Before his disturbing habits were discovered, Adam Britton (pictured during an interview with Triple J) was a highly respected zoologist and crocodile expert.
Adam Britton (pictured with his ex-wife) was jailed for more than 10 years
Britton told court-appointed psychologists he suffered from chronic depression before he began making home movies of himself raping, torturing and murdering dogs at the age of 49.
He also falsely claimed there were similar twisted perverts online, where he posted on Telegram under the pseudonyms Monster and Cerberus, and threatened to expose him if he did not create the content they requested of him.
Britton also tried to tell psychologists that he exaggerated his crimes for the benefit of his online friends.
But the judge dismissed those arguments, saying there was no evidence to suggest Britton was depressed: he had not told anyone, had not written about it and had not sought medical help.
The judge also said there was no evidence to suggest Britton was blackmailed by Telegram users.
He said this was evident by the fact that he described his torture videos in great detail to his online friends, saying things like: “I love hurting dogs.”
“The level of depravity in those communications and ideations is consistent with the level of depravity that you demonstrated and recorded in the commission of the offences of aggravated cruelty,” Judge Grant said.
‘It should also be noted that the recordings provide clear and objective proof that you were, in fact, doing in real life what you said you were doing in those chat rooms.’
The judge also noted that Britton did not assist police in discovering the identities of those users.
Pictured: A Telegram conversation Britton had with a like-minded person
Britton (pictured left, with his ex-wife) once hosted Sir David Attenborough (right) at his Darwin estate.
Police are still unclear as to how those users found out about Britton’s arrest in April 2022, prompting them to delete their Telegram accounts and remain in hiding. His name was not published in the media until he pleaded guilty in 2023.
The sentencing remarks also described Britton’s lifelong struggle with sociosexual disorder, paraphelia and zoosadism.
Britton was never attracted to humans and had difficulty having proper relationships with women as a university student in Hong Kong and the UK. He had two female partners, but they were not sexual relationships.
After graduating, the judge said he had a “brief” sexual relationship with a woman who worked in the animal industry.
“You attempted to establish a sexual relationship with her, but those attempts were obviously hampered by your unorthodox sexual preferences,” the judge said.
‘Sexual relations with your wife were not something you enjoyed and as a result were extremely sporadic.
‘The relationship eventually became completely platonic and asexual in nature.’
There is no indication that his wife knew of his crimes or his interests. The court heard that she spent months away from home due to work commitments.
The judge said Britton had an “unusual” interest in animals from the age of six, when he would watch videos of animals defecating and urinating and fantasise about being submerged in cow faeces.
Adam Britton was sentenced to 10 years and five months in prison with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his arrest in April 2022.
“You fantasized exclusively about animals and had no sexual interest in other human beings,” he said.
‘You started sneaking out at night to a field near your house where there were horses. Once there, you would hug the horses, lick their saliva and eat their hair.’
Judge Grant noted that Britton knew his interests would not be accepted by the wider community and tried to keep his fantasies under control for the first 49 years of his life.
He also acknowledged that Britton was born with psychological problems, through no fault of his own, but said that a “clear and definitive” decision had ultimately been made.
“Paraphrasing your own words during your unsuspecting messages, although you were slow to start acting on your kink, once you did, you loved it,” he said.
“You couldn’t stop doing it, and you didn’t want to stop doing it.”
The court heard Britton’s paraphelia could not be cured and he would likely have to take libido suppressants to curb his interests and ensure he did not reoffend.
Britton had expressed remorse for his actions and was interested in doing what he could to ensure he did not reoffend, but he was not enthusiastic about the prospect of taking medication.
Adam Britton wrote a humiliating apology for harming animals, which was submitted to the court (pictured)
Judge Grant noted that Britton had been in the protective custody wing of Darwin Correctional Centre since his arrest in 2022, but had been subjected to verbal abuse by inmates who saw him in the exercise area.
He said there was a form of abuse, but he did not give it much weight when sentencing.
Britton also submitted a brief handwritten apology detailing his struggles with paraphernalia, which he was too ashamed of to seek help for.
The apology read: ‘I take full responsibility for the degrading crimes I perpetrated against dogs. I deeply regret the pain and trauma I caused to innocent animals and, consequently, to my family, friends and community members I affected.
‘I let you all down and I’m so sorry.
‘I now recognize that I have been struggling with a rare paraphilic disorder for much of my life, and that shame and fear prevented me from seeking the proper help I needed.’
Britton said he was determined to seek long-term treatment to prove he was better than his horrific crimes and “find a path to redemption.”
“Please give my family the space they deserve to heal. They were not aware of it or involved in any way,” she added.
In 2022, new legislation was introduced in the Northern Territory increasing penalties for animal cruelty from a maximum of two to five years, but Britton’s offences predated the reforms.
He was also banned from owning a mammal for the rest of his natural life.
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