‘Appalling behaviour’: Barnsley man sentenced after being filmed stamping on ducks
A Barnsley man has been given a suspended prison sentence after disturbing footage showed him chasing, striking and repeatedly stamping on ducks at a South Yorkshire beauty spot.
The incident took place at Cawthorne Woods and involved Owen Raynor, of Greenside Avenue, Staincross.
Video footage, which was originally posted on Snapchat, showed Raynor chasing a flock of ducks before striking three of them with large branches.
He then returned to the ducks and repeatedly stamped on them.
It is not known whether the ducks shown in the footage survived.
RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben received the videos from police and investigated the incident on behalf of the animal welfare charity.
Describing the footage to the court, he said: “I viewed the three video clips in which I viewed three older teenage men abuse several Mallard ducks at a lakeside by chasing, hitting with a stick, stamping on at least three ducks, it’s unclear whether these ducks were killed.”
Raynor, born on February 2, 2006, subsequently pleaded guilty to one offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of intentionally killing or causing injury to three ducks/ducklings.
He appeared at Barnsley Magistrates Court on Monday (Sep 7), where he was handed an 18-week prison sentence suspended for two years.
Raynor was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work, pay £400 in costs and a £154 victim surcharge.
In mitigation, Raynor's age at the time of the footage was cited, along with the effect on his life opportunities and employment prospects.
In their sentencing remarks, the magistrates said: “As a bench we have never seen anything this bad. This was appalling behaviour which was seriously aggravated by the fact it was posted on social media. One of my colleagues felt physically sick as he watched that video footage and heard the case outlined to us.”
Speaking after sentencing, RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben said: “This is one of the worst deliberate acts of cruelty on innocent, defenceless animals I have seen in 27 years of working for the RSPCA. The fact those involved were laughing as they carried out this cowardly act shows how little respect they have for animals.
“Animals feel pain, fear and distress, just like we do, and always deserve to be shown kindness, compassion and respect.”