Barnsley man who was filmed hitting and stamping on ducks gets suspended sentence
The brutal attack was filmed at Cawthorne Woods
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A Barnsley man has been handed a suspended prison sentence after he was filmed hitting and stamping on three ducks.
20 year old Owen Raynor, of Greenside Avenue in Staincross, was filmed at the Cawthorne Woods beauty spot attacking the defenceless animals with a large stick.
Barnsley Magistrates Court was shown footage initially posted on Snapchat of the incident last July,
Raynor was pictured chasing the birds before stamping on several of them.
He admitted one offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of intentionally killing or causing injury to three ducks/ducklings.
As well as the 18 week suspended prison sentence, Raynor was also ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work and pay over £500 in fines and costs.
RSPCA Inspector Keith Hogben 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.”
“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.”