Two men sentenced for badger baiting in Richmond. The incident involved animal cruelty and sett damage.
Someone reported odd stuff near Jagger Lane. This happened back on January 25, 2023. They saw a parked car and torchlight really early. Police stopped a silver Volvo later near Scotch Corner.
West was in the passenger seat. Rose drove the car. Three terriers were also inside. One dog, Coco, sat with West. Rose owned the other two dogs. The police thought West tried hiding Coco.
They learned Wade couldn’t own dogs. It was due to a court order valid until 2027. Officers arrested both men then. They took the dogs to kennels.
Police found a muddy spade in the car. A vet examined Rose and Wade’s terriers. Coco had a bad leg injury. The vet gave her anesthesia. Another dog had cuts on its face.
An expert thought badgers likely caused the injuries. The cuts likely happened while fighting. Police located a dug-up badger sett the next day. They found shovels and a knife nearby. A dead badger was also found.
The expert checked the site. It was an active badger home. The tunnels were illegally dug. Some entrances were blocked off. Wade’s dog had jaw injuries and the other dog had facial wounds.
The badger died in a fight with the terriers. Five badgers lived there, including a cub. The digging really disturbed them. It was the breeding season, too. The terriers had classic fighting injuries.
Wade’s injured dog should not have been working. The vet said she was in pain. To use her was cruel because her old wounds were not stitched up.
The badger had head wounds and broken limbs. Its head was almost severed. This was likely done with a shovel or spade. Blood was found on Wade’s pants. It matched the dead badger’s blood.
Texts on Wade’s phone talked about the incident. He and Rose messaged before the killing. He said they might get a “pig” from the sett. Another text hoped for a good dig for the dogs.
Both guys admitted hurting a protected animal. They put their dogs in conflict with a badger. Rose also admitted a violent assault in Sunderland. The victim was seriously hurt by Rose.
Rose’s Sunderland victim needed a coma. This was for four days due to injuries. The injuries included broken rips. He also had a punctured lung. Rose claimed self-defense, but it was excessive.
Rose and Wade were sentenced on February 17. The judge delayed reporting to avoid biasing another trial. They faced charges for killing a badger. They were also charged with damaging the sett.
They pled guilty on their trial day. Wade had past violent convictions. He also hurt a protected animal in 2017. Rose had past convictions for violence and affray. Rose’s lawyer called it “abhorrent.”
The lawyer noted Rose was on bail for the assault. Wade’s lawyer admitted there was no excuse. His dog had bad injuries, causing pain.
The judge jailed Wade for two years. He said Wade seemed to enjoy hurting animals. It was unforgivable to set dogs on a badger. Wade’s dog had serious jaw injuries.
The dogs were terrified when confronting the badger. The badger was terrified as well. This whole case was sick. Wade showed unbelievable depravity and clearly tried to hurt both animals.
Wade cannot own animals ever again. Rose was guilty of a shocking, depraved act. It was extreme cruelty, but Rose was not a repeat offender, unlike Wade.
Rose was jailed 23 months for both crimes. He can’t own animals for 10 years. Rose and Wade got 23 more weeks for badger killing. They got 16 weeks for sett damage, served at the same time.
Other men faced the same charges but pleaded innocent. The court dismissed all charges against them because they were not seen at the badger sett. The men were near a hedge very far away. Therefore, the charges were dropped.