Worksop man who filmed animal torture videos for 'hobby' jailed
Warning : This article contains distressing details of animal cruelty
A man who filmed himself torturing and mutilating foxes, deer and badgers for his own "pleasure" has been jailed.
More than 100 graphic phone videos and images were found at 39-year-old Daniel Taylor's home showing the "gruesome" attacks.
Footage seized by police showed Taylor, of Shrewsbury Road, Worksop, encouraging his dogs to maim and kill wild animals.
Officers found 15 deer skulls, 14 fox tails, two deer heads, two sets of antlers, and a bag of wire snares at the property.
A blood-stained quad bike and lamping equipment were also recovered.
Police arrested Taylor, confiscated his phone and removed his dogs from the house as part of the investigation.
Officers were able to map the images and videos on his phone to specific locations.
PC Mark Holland, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “From this we were able to prove when and where most of the animals were killed and link this evidence in with several reports of poaching.
"We also received intelligence which helped establish Taylor was in areas at the relevant times."
Taylor appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court and pleaded guilty to four counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between 31 August 2021 and 21 February 2023.
PC Ben Harrison said: "At the back of Taylor’s premises we found what was essentially a slaughterhouse for animals.
"Taylor clearly took pleasure out of his dogs torturing these animals. They were clearly being trained to get hold of these animals and rip them to shreds.
"The videos were gruesome and the sounds of the animals squealing in pain were horrible.
"In one particular video, while Taylor was filming one of these acts, he dropped his phone and it flipped over. He bent over to pick it up and it captured a full face shot of him. There was no question over who was doing the filming or who was the owner of these videos."
Taylor was jailed for two years and eight months.
He was also banned from owning, keeping or participating in keeping dogs for at least seven years.
Judge Mark Watson said: "These offences cannot in any way be described as sport. This was a barbaric hobby of yours.
"This was planned activity by you and you clearly revelled in the suffering of these animals.
"You encouraged your dogs to attack these animals with ferocity and they suffered immeasurably.
"These were prolonged and repeated incidents of serious cruelty and examples of sadistic behaviour."
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