Teenagers’ depraved attack on sheep ‘looked like murder scene’

“DEPRAVED” teenagers attacked sheep with sticks, pelted them with bricks and ripped off their horns, leaving a country park looking “like a murder scene”, a court heard.

The gang laughed as they set about the sheep, with one 14-year-old boy inflicting an “uppercut with a piece of wood” before riding the animal.

When police were called to the scene they found the four youths – three boys and a girl – were “jovial”.

The court heard one officer said “the level of blood was tantamount to a murder scene” in Alver Valley Country Park in Gosport, Hants.

Two of the boys had also attacked sheep, ripping off a horn, two days earlier.

Lucy Linington, prosecuting, told Portsmouth Youth Court that a witness had called police after spotting the gang throwing bricks at the sheep on May 1 this year.

She said: “They were laughing and not in any way aware as to the level of inflicted damage and depravity. The injuries sustained to some of the sheep were such

‘This is quite a grotesque act... Were you adults, you’d go straight to prison’

that their horns were entirely removed.”

She said the sheep were “panting, distressed, clearly in extreme pain” and that one gang member had said “this is fun”.

The 15-year-old girl, two 14-year-old boys and a 13-year-old boy were castigated by a judge for their cruelty.

Sentencing them, district judge Anthony Callaway said: “This is quite a grotesque act. Most decent people would be revolted by what you’ve done.

“To treat helpless animals in that way and to arm yourselves to do it is disgusting.

“Were you adults, you’d go straight to prison and deserve to go to prison. I’d like to send you all to prison but the law says I can’t do that.”

He imposed a 12-month referral order on the 15-yearold girl and 14-year-old boy, both from Gosport. They admitted one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

The 13-year-old boy received a nine-month extension to a current three-month referral order, and the other 14-year-old boy, from the Southampton area, received a 12-month youth rehabilitation order. They both admitted two charges of causing suffering.