Renowned wildlife expert and BBC collaborator admits to raping, torturing and murdering dozens of dogs

A British crocodile expert who worked with Sir David Attenborough has pleaded guilty to dozens of charges of bestiality involving the abuse, rape and murder of more than 40 pet dogs.

Adam Britton(BBC)

Adam Britton left the UK for the Northern Territory of Australia as a young man to follow his interest in saltwater crocodiles, the massive predators that live in the tropical regions of northern Australia.

The zoologist, who is based in Darwin, wrote books, worked on films, made nature documentaries with the BBC and National Geographic, and kept a pet 16-foot-long saltwater crocodile weighing half a tonne, which he named Smaug.

On Monday, the 51-year-old admitted to 60 criminal charges in the Northern Territory’s Supreme Court, including animal cruelty, raping or trying to rape a dog and having and sharing child abuse material.

The charges were so appalling that the judge, Chief Justice Michael Grant, warned people in the court that the evidence could cause “nervous shock”.

He offered the option of leaving the courtroom to the people in the public gallery, the journalists and the security officers.

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Britton had committed “acts that could only be described as grotesque cruelty which are both confronting and distressing. In my assessment (they) have the potential to cause nervous shock or some other adverse psychological reaction to a person exposed to those details,” the judge said. “Either way I’ll leave that up to you, but the potential has been described.”

Britton, who is originally from West Yorkshire, was arrested in April last year. His identity was hidden by a suppression order until now. The court heard that the wildlife expert had a “sadistic sexual interest” in animals, especially dogs, and that he had deliberately killed around 40 animals in a pattern of behaviour that started in 2014 at least.

The court heard that Britton had a shipping container on his property which he called his “torture room”.

Police found the container full of computers, cameras, external hard drives, and sex toys when they raided his rural property near Darwin last year.

Prosecutors said Britton used the container “to torture, sexually exploit and kill dogs”. He got the pets through Gumtree Australia, an online marketplace, assuring their former owners that they would be well cared for.

“[He] often built a rapport with the dog owners in negotiating taking custody of their animals, many of whom had to reluctantly give their pets away due to travel or work commitments,” said Crown prosecutor Marty Aust.

Police also found several files of child abuse material on his laptop.

Mr. Aust said that Britton had a Telegram account that he used to contact “like-minded people”.

He also had another account that he used to upload and share video recordings of him torturing and sexually abusing dogs. He is accused of sexually abusing his own pet dogs, two Swiss Shepherds called Bolt and Ursa.

One such video found its way to an animal welfare organization, which subsequently alerted the authorities. In a disturbing revelation, Mr. Aust disclosed, “Using these applications, the offender discussed his ‘kill count’… and described the shipping container on his property as his ‘torture room.'”

In a poignant online message presented in court, Britton messaged a contact, stating, “I had repressed it. In the last few years, I let it out again, and now I can’t stop. I don’t want to.”

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For many years, Britton held a position as a respected academic at Charles Darwin University in Darwin. Notably, a few years back, his pet crocodile Smaug played a role in the BBC wildlife documentary “Life in Cold Blood,” narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Britton recounted, “They really wanted to get a shot of two crocodiles copulating underwater. I said: ‘OK, whatever you want [but] it will be virtually impossible to film in the wild,’ ” during an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 2015.

Additionally, Britton mentioned his collaboration with Bear Grylls, commenting, “He was a bit of a sook (Australian slang for wimp) to be honest. He was definitely a bit apprehensive about going in with Smaug,” in an interview with the ABC.

Britton has been remanded in custody, and the case has been adjourned until December for the sentencing phase, during which defense lawyers are expected to present their submissions.

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