Men who repeatedly punched and kicked sheep before blowing it up with fireworks jailed

Two agricultural students who launched a “sadistic” attack on a sheep, which included placing fireworks inside its mouth and body, have been jailed.

Leighton Ashby, 22, and Oakley Hollands, 20, filmed the 30-minute attack on a mobile phone and kept the sheep’s ear tag as a “token”, which was later hidden inside a Monster energy can and discovered inside a communal toilet.

The duo, who were enrolled at Plumpton Agricultural College, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal. Ashby was sentenced to two years behind bars, while Hollands received a 20-month sentence at a youth offender institution.

Hove Trial Centre heard that the two men had invited two of their fellow students to see a “dead badger” on the evening of 2 November 2023, with Hollands telling the group that he had been drinking alcohol while behind the wheel.

After arriving at a field near Ditchling Beacon, the group walked along a public footpath before Ashby and Hollands began to chase a sheep, eventually pinning it to the ground.

Shortly afterwards, Ashby began “swinging it from side to side” and kicked the sheep around five times to its head and torso. When the other witnesses wanted to leave and asked for the car keys, Hollands refused and began to film the incident on his mobile phone.

At one point, the sheep appeared unable to stand due to the blows to its head, with Hollands heard shouting “go on, kill it, kill it, kill it” while laughing in the background.

Explosive devices were then inserted into the mouth and anus of the animal, leaving it severely mutilated with fatal injuries.

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After the group returned to the college, Ashby was heard to tell Hollands “we need to wait a couple of weeks before we do that again”. The duo were reported to the police after a female witness requested that Hollands send her the videos. It was also reported to college staff.

Both men have been excluded from the college as a result of their actions.

Analysis of their phones found other disturbing materials, including footage of a dead fox being dismembered and a badger being kicked on Hollands’ device.

Describing their actions as exhibiting a “worrying pattern in the mutilation and destruction of animals”, prosecutor Jordan Franks said: “This is not simply about the infliction of pain. It could have been in a different context – violence towards the sheep out of frustration, anger, showing off.

“It is the crown’s case that Mr Hollands can be heard laughing and shouting ‘kill it’. The video of the aftermath shows the blood on his hand, they keep the token of the sheep’s ear tag. There are worrying signs they took a great deal of pleasure in the suffering they caused.”

Protesters gathered outside and sat in the public gallery holding banners that called for a custodial sentence, with animal rights campaigners naming the sheep ‘Eunice’.

In a community impact statement read aloud to the court, Mr Franks said that members of the public had reacted with an “overwhelming amount of disgust” at the violence used by the two men.

The court heard that both defendants were of previous good character and of agricultural backgrounds, with Hollands diagnosed with ADHD and Ashby with autism and learning difficulties.

Sentencing them, Judge Jeremy Gold KC said: “Quite what satisfaction you could derive from chasing sheep is difficult to understand but you caught a lamb, a Romsey ewe, which you then kicked and beat to death for your own perverse satisfaction.

“The ordeal suffered by that defenceless animal is graphically portrayed on the video footage that you took during the attack.

He continued: “As if what had already been done was not bad enough, you decided to insert fireworks into the lamb to cause further suffering and mutilation of this innocent creature. The fact that you both come from farming backgrounds and were studying at Plumpton at the time makes your callous and frankly sadistic behaviour all the more alarming and difficult to comprehend.”