WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A disgraced crocodile expert who filmed himself torturing, raping and killing 42 dogs moved behind a screen during sentencing to shield himself from the hate-filled gaze of court observers.
Adam Robert Corden Britton, 53, was sentenced in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Thursday to 10 years and five months in prison, with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his arrest in April 2022.
Britton, who was born in the UK but moved to Darwin to pursue a career as a zoologist in the 1990s, pleaded guilty to 63 charges relating to animal cruelty, bestiality and possession of child exploitation material.
He sourced the dogs from Gumtree Australia over a two-year period with the sole purpose of torturing the animals to death on camera, but telling the former owners that their beloved pets were enjoying their new home.
According to court documents, the pets were usually already dead by the time these updates were sent. Most of the dogs she acquired were horribly abused and killed within days of acquiring them.
During sentencing, Chief Justice Michael Grant told Britton: “Your depravity is beyond any ordinary human conception.”
Animal lovers flew to Darwin from across Australia to witness the sentencing, but Britton received some support. Her mother wrote a letter of recommendation to the court, as did two former colleagues.
Britton also submitted a brief, handwritten apology detailing his struggles with “a rare paraphilic disorder” (intense sexual behaviors involving inanimate objects, children or adults without consent) for which he was too ashamed to seek help.
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.
Adam Britton wrote a humiliating apology for harming animals, which was submitted to the court (pictured)
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.
There was a brief recess before the verdict was handed down.
When the session resumed, onlookers said Britton had intentionally moved his chair behind a computer screen so that those sitting in the public gallery could not see him.
Audience members leaned forward so she couldn’t escape their hate-filled stares.
Britton (pictured left, with his wife Erin) hosted Sir David Attenborough (right). There is no suggestion that his wife knew of his crimes.
Pictured: Adam Britton, when he was a respected academic and zoologist.
As the judge began to read his sentence, Britton reached for a tissue. Some members of the public jeered, while others had to leave the courtroom because they were too upset by Britton’s crimes.
Britton, who posted horrific images of animal abuse on his Telegram channel under the pseudonym ‘Cerberus’, managed to keep his twisted double life a secret from his wife Erin for years.
He would use the Telegram account for interacting with “like-minded people” and another that was used to spread images and recordings of the abuse.
Erin, a park ranger and biologist who met Prince Harry and helped him catch a crocodile, has reportedly since changed her name. There is no indication that Erin knew anything about her husband’s crimes.
Britton’s arrest came just a month after she uploaded a video called ‘1B***h9pups’ to an abuse website in March 2022.
The court heard Thursday that Britton bought the dog and her nine puppies for $150, with the sole purpose of torturing the animals to death at a site called Shano’s Pit near his home in McMinns Lagoon.
He wanted it to be the most popular “shock video” on the Internet, but all he did was anger netizens, who were disgusted by the obscene levels of violence and scoured the video for clues to unmask the perpetrator.
Pictured: A mockup of a Telegram conversation Britton had with a user
Pictured: A stock image of a dog on an orange leash from the City of Darwin, just like the one the internet sleuth spotted in Britton’s abuse video.
Britton was arrested in April 2022 after an anonymous internet user noticed a dog in one of his online videos wearing an orange City of Darwin leash with the slogan: “Great pets start with you.”
The tip allowed authorities to track down who had adopted the dog.
Judge Grant said it was “manifestly clear” that Britton derived “perverse pleasure and excitement from the suffering of these animals”, as was evident in his interactions with others on Telegram.
“Your conduct on each of those occasions involved a level of depravity and reprehensibility that is totally beyond any ordinary human conception and understanding,” the judge said.
Despite the handwritten apology, the judge was not satisfied that Britton was genuinely remorseful and accepted the Crown’s view that Britton’s prominent diagnosis was zoosadism (sexual pleasure derived from cruelty to animals).
“You used weapons extensively in the course of your activity,” Judge Grant said.
‘As the Crown has pointed out, the sheer and utter pleasure to be derived from inflicting this torture is sickeningly obvious.’
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.