Online sleuths helped take down depraved British animal abuser Adam Britton after identifying a leash in a dog torture video he posted online, it has been revealed.
The only clue led Australian police to the animal sanctuary in Darwin, owned by crocodile expert Britton, 51, where they found dismembered pets.
Britton pleaded guilty in the Darwin Supreme Court on Monday to a series of charges relating to animal cruelty, bestiality and possession of child exploitation material.
The court heard Britton found around 42 dogs on Gumtree Australia – often from owners who reluctantly gave their pets away due to work commitments – with the aim of sexually exploiting them for his own sadistic pleasure.
Britton managed two Telegram accounts called ‘monster’ and ‘Cerberus’ – the latter named after a three-headed dog in Greek mythology – from 2020 and 2022.
He used the accounts to discuss animal abuse and bestiality with like-minded people and to share videos of the sick abuse.
However, he was the master of his own downfall when he posted a disturbing video called ‘1B***h9Pups’ to an abuse website on March 22, 2022, which revealed a clue to his identity and whereabouts that ultimately led to his downfall.
Online sleuths helped take down depraved British animal abuser Adam Britton (pictured) after identifying a leash in a dog torture video he posted online, it has been revealed
Pictured: A stock photo of a dog wearing an orange City of Darwin leash, like the one the internet sleuth spotted in Britton’s abuse video that ultimately led to his demise
The next day, on March 23, an anonymous internet user noticed that the adult female dog was wearing a distinctive orange City of Darwin branded leash with the slogan “great pets start with you.”
The user notified the Northern Territory (NT) Animal Welfare Branch of the video by email, prompting the organization to refer the matter to police.
On April 22, a month after he posted the video, officers from the NT Police and Australian Federal Police raided Britton’s home at Mcminns Lagoon, found in southern Darwin.
There, detectives seized 44 items, including computers, cell phones, cameras, external hard drives, tools, weapons, dog paraphernalia and sex toys.
According to the prosecutor, police found fifteen child abuse files on his laptop.
They also found severed dog limbs in a freezer, a decomposing puppy in a pond on the property, and a severed dog’s head on a neighboring property.
Documents say Britton used a shipping container on his property and visited several locations off his property to carry out the acts on the animals.
According to the documents, Britton used a Gumtree Australia application to gain custody of many of the 42 dogs, often “building a relationship” with the owners who “had to reluctantly give up their pets due to travel or work commitments”.
Britton managed two Telegram accounts under the names Monster and Cerberus.
He would film himself inflicting pain on the defenseless animals in the container he called his “torture chamber” – equipped with recording equipment – and use the Cerberus account to “upload and distribute” the sick material online, the court heard. “Using these applications, the perpetrator discussed his ‘kill count,'” prosecutor Marty Aust said.
His account contained 114 topics in which he described how he acquired the pets, how he abused them and how he disposed of their bodies.
The court also heard he sexually abused his own Swiss Shepherd animals, Ursa and Bolt, for almost a decade until he finally went to Gumtree Australia to find more dogs to kill.
By setting up alerts on the site for when a new dog or puppy came up for sale in the area, he built a “rapport” with the unsuspecting owners to negotiate custody of their dogs, prosecutor Marty Aust said.
When pet owners reached out and asked Britton for updates on their old pets, he would tell a “false story” by saying they were healthy and send them old photos.
In one scenario, Britton sent a message to the owners of a large brown dog to reassure them that the animal was ‘well in place’.
“Wolfe was relaxed, eating well and enjoying her new home,” the post said.
But unbeknownst to the previous owners, the dog had already been “sexually exploited, tortured and killed,” Aust said.
In 2016, Britton uploaded this photo of one of his dogs, Bolt, as a puppy. The court heard how Britton sexually abused and tortured the dog
The court heard that Britton began abusing his dogs, Ursa and Bolt (pictured as an adult), in 2014.
Britton tortured and abused not only his own pets Ursa and Bolt (pictured together), for whom he created an Instagram page, but also the dogs of pet owners he trapped through the online marketplace platform Gumtree Australia
Britton (pictured centre, with his wife Erin on left) once hosted Sir David Attenborough (right). There is no indication that his wife or Sir David knew of his transgression
Britton was subsequently charged with 37 counts of animal cruelty, 10 counts of rape or attempted rape of a dog, and four counts of possessing or transmitting child abuse material.
The video and descriptions of his abuse are so disturbing that MailOnline has chosen not to publish it in full.
After pleading guilty to all charges on Monday, Chief Justice Michael Grant warned the press gallery that the offenders’ offenses describe “acts that can only be described as grotesque atrocities that are both confronting and disturbing.”
“Which in my opinion have the potential to cause nervous shock or other adverse psychological response in someone exposed to these details,” he said.
Prosecutors told the court that Britton has had a “sadistic sexual interest” in animals, especially dogs, since 2014.
The married zoologist was charged last year, but his name was suppressed by the court to ensure media attention would not sway a jury against him.
The warrant was revoked after he pleaded guilty Monday.
Britton’s wife Erin, a ranger who met Prince Harry and helped him catch a saltwater crocodile, was unaware of her husband’s disturbing fantasies and has since reportedly changed her surname.
There is no indication that Britton’s wife – whose name has been widely reported – or Sir David were aware of his offending.
Britton, a leading zoologist who has worked with the BBC and National Geographic on productions, kept his cool as he pleaded guilty to 47 charges of animal cruelty in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Monday.
He also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and distributing child abuse material, including coercing toddlers to perform depraved acts.
Adam Britton, 51, began his crime in 2014 and tortured and exploited more than 42 dogs until his arrest in April 2022
His case will return to court on December 13 for sentencing.
Britton was born in Yorkshire and moved to Australia twenty years ago. He previously worked for the BBC and National Geographic.
Multiple reports say he hosted David Attenborough on his property while Mr Attenborough’s team filmed the docuseries Life In Cold Blood.
Britton studied at the University of Bristol and the University of Leeds and held a senior research associate position at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory.