A judge who has jailed a former zoologist for more than 10 years over "deviant" cruelty to dogs said he could not imagine anyone committing more serious torture of animals.
Adam Robert Corden Britton was sentenced in Darwin Supreme Court on Thursday having previously pleaded guilty to 56 offences related to the torture and sexually exploitation of more than 42 dogs on his rural property in the Northern Territory.
Chief Justice Michael Grant said Britton, a former prominent crocodile expert and Charles Darwin University academic, showed “grotesque" depravity in killing dozens of dogs.
"Your motivations were of the basest and most perverse kind ... each instance is an offence with the maximum penalty ... I am unable to conceive of anything worse," Justice Grant said.
Britton's crimes continued from 2014 until his arrest in April 2022 after one of the videos of his offending, which he had shared online, was anonymously provided to Northern Territory animal welfare authorities.
Britton was required to be sentenced under the territory's animal protection laws at the time of his offending, which had a maximum of two years' jail for aggravated cruelty with intent to cause animal death.
The territory has since increased the maximum sentence to five years.
"Society views violence and cruelty to animals as an abhorrent crime towards a powerless and innocent victim. There is legitimate disgust and condemnation," Justice Grant said.
He warned the public gallery he would have to describe Britton's “grotesque cruelty”.
"Your depravity falls outside any ordinary human conception," Justice Grant told Britton.
People in the public gallery at times sobbed and gasped as the details of Britton's extensive and violent offending, resulting in the deaths of 39 dogs including nine puppies, were read out.
Britton stood in the dock wearing a black suit with grey shirt and did not visibly react to Justice Grant's sentencing remarks.
Justice Grant said Brittons torture and killings were planned, premeditated and would not have stopped unless arrested.
"The suffering of these animals was indescribable," Justice Grant said.
Animal advocates had earlier demonstrated outside court holding signs demanding Britton face the death penalty.
Britton was also sentenced for possessing and transmitting "the worst category" of child sexual abuse material.
Justice Grant said Britton had a lifelong deviant sexual attraction to animals and escalated to "zoosadism", involving him taking pleasure in harming animals, in the two years before his arrest.
Two psychiatrists found Britton had a paraphilic disorder but was aware his actions were wrong.
Britton wrote a letter to the court taking responsibility for his actions and apologising for the demeaning pain and trauma he caused to the dogs.
"No amount of words can convey how sorry and ashamed I am, nor undo what I did," Britton wrote.
As well as torturing his own dogs, Britton sourced other canines off Gumtree Australia from unsuspecting owners in the Darwin region.
The agreed facts stated Britton extensively filmed his offending and shared some of the videos to others online while encouraging them to commit similar offences.
"Your sheer and unalloyed pleasure is sickeningly evident from the recorded material," Justice Grant said.
Britton participated in hundreds of online discussions in which he described his arousal at producing "snuff" videos.
“I can’t stop myself hurting dogs ... I’m ridiculously excited by it," Britton stated in one message.
He has been remanded in custody since his arrest.
Britton was a prominent NT crocodile expert and a senior researcher at Charles Darwin University who who once hosted world-famous broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough.
None of his offending is alleged to have been against the reptiles.
Justice Grant said Britton had aided justice by pleading guilty but the effect on the case was minimal given the extensive video evidence.
Britton was sentenced to 10 years and five months with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his April 2022 arrest.
Justice Grant ordered that Britton be banned from owning or having on his property mammal-type animals for the term of his natural life.
