Adam Britton: Crocodile expert who raped and killed dogs in Darwin has his sentencing delayed

A dog rapist who sexually assaulted and killed animals in his ‘torture chamber’ shipping container has had his sentencing postponed.

British-born crocodile expert Adam Britton, 52, pleaded guilty last September to 60 charges – including bestiality, animal cruelty and possession of child abuse material.

Both his lawyer and the prosecutor were due to make submissions on Britton’s conviction last December, but the case was adjourned until next Tuesday.

However, Britton’s team asked for more time to investigate a psychiatric report they received last Friday that could be used to reduce the abuser’s sentence.

The prosecutor also requested a delay in submitting the sentence so that she could prepare her own psychiatric report accordingly.

The ‘sadistic’ former zoologist, who previously worked with Sir David Attenborough, is now due to appear in court again in May.

Although his sentencing was postponed for a further three months, Chief Justice Grant said it was unlikely the psychological expert report would ‘reduce’ the culpability of Britton’s actions.

“I’ll take aim at it, of course, but I just don’t understand how evidence about a psychological condition, whether you define it as paraphilia or zoo sadism, reduces the moral culpability for being the product of that condition,” he said.

Britton’s lawyer claimed the report focused on the prospects of Britton’s rehabilitation and reducing his responsibility for the crimes.

Protesters showed up outside Darwin’s Supreme Court on Tuesday, telling reporters they hoped Britton would spend the rest of his life behind bars.

A local woman, who did not want to be named, proudly held a sign that read: ‘Death penalty for Adam Britton.’

She told Daily Mail Australia: “He cannot get away with these heinous crimes. Now his order calls for psychological tests to check his suitability for rehabilitation – how can that work?

‘How can we allow this monster back into a community of defenseless, voiceless, innocent animals?

“Really, the death penalty is the only way.”

Britton has pleaded guilty to eight counts of bestiality – each carrying a maximum of three years behind bars, four counts of possessing and transmitting child abuse material – each carrying a maximum of 10 years, and 37 counts of aggravated animal cruelty – each carrying a maximum of 10 years. of five years.

Chief Justice Grant previously described Britton’s crimes as “acts that can only be described as grotesque atrocities that are both confronting and disturbing.”

In a very rare instance, he even dismissed security officers and sheriffs from the courtroom while the facts of Britton’s disturbing case were read out to avoid unnecessary “adverse psychological” effects.

Between 2020 and 2022, Britton tortured, raped and murdered more than 40 animals from his remote home in McMinns Lagoon and a neighboring property in Darwin’s south.

He allegedly filmed the horrific abuse and shared the footage and photos online, reportedly hoping to gain notoriety by making ‘the most famous shock video ever’.

Britton often acquired dogs to fulfill his twisted fantasies among the unassuming locals of Gumtree Australia.

In secret, encrypted online chats, the 52-year-old shared his expertise in torture with other ‘zoo sadists’.

In one conversation, he advised someone to play on current owners’ sympathies to help abuse dogs.

“Most people want to know that you are a good person and that the dog is going to a good home – it has room to play, you take it for walks, it can live in the house, etc.,” he wrote.

‘Saying you want a new family member after your old dog died of cancer last year almost never backfires.’

In another, he wrote, “I was talking to someone else about why I like to hurt dogs… I wasn’t sure at first, but now I live for it. I can’t help but hurt dogs.

‘As a child I was sadistic towards animals, but I had suppressed it. In recent years I’ve let it go and now I can’t stop. I do not want. 🙂 .’

Britton’s reign of terror came to an abrupt end when he uploaded a video called ‘1B***h9Pups’ to an abuse website on March 22, 2022.

The clip was so violent and disturbing that internet sleuths were outraged and scoured the frames of the twisted film to identify its ailing creator.

An eagle-eyed viewer spotted an orange City of Darwin dog leash in the background of the video and reported the information to authorities.

Northern Territory Police launched Operation Haine – a joint investigation between NT Police and the Australian Federal Police’s Joint Anti-Child Exploitation Team – in response to the report and raided Britton’s home on April 22, 2022.

He has been in pre-trial detention since then.

Last year, the three-acre estate was pictured where Britton and his estranged wife Erin invited film crews, TV stations, radio hosts, animal experts and friends.

The crocodile cage where the couple kept their exotic pets – including Smaug, the movie star crocodile – was empty, and their two Swiss shepherds – whom Britton also abused – Ursa and Bolt, were nowhere to be seen.

There were padlocks on the gate, along with a creepy Darwin City Council sign stating that ‘a dog on this property has been declared a dangerous dog’.

Britton was a renowned wildlife expert and regularly accompanied Erin on her month-long international zoological expeditions, including to Antarctica.

Court documents show he made his vile videos at home before going on international trips and sent the videos to like-minded people via Telegram.

A number of home videos were sent from Antarctica, most from the NT and some from Queensland and New South Wales.

There were a few instances where, according to court documents, Britton sent a video of himself torturing a dog one day and uploaded a photo of whales in Antarctica to his Instagram the next.

The couple’s property, where Britton abused dogs in his ‘torture chamber’ shipping container, has since been abandoned and Erin, who knew nothing of Britton’s abuse, has severed all ties with her husband.

Animal activists who were once duped by Britton’s charming animal expertise, which landed him in a BBC documentary alongside David Attenborough, are calling on the 52-year-old to pay the ultimate price for his criminal double life.