Twisted man tried to hug mum as he was jailed over monkey torture movies

A 42-year-old man ran to try and hug his mother in court after he was sent down for sharing videos of baby monkeys being tortured in a social media group.

Peter Stanley’s prosecution is a first for the North West. So much that there was no sentencing guide for the judge to consider. In the horrific video, shared on the Facebook group called ‘Monkey Sauce,’ showed monkeys being abused.

Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday (September 25) that Stanley posted three videos of baby macaque monkeys being abused between April 3 and June 24 last year, reports the Mirror.

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The court heard the videos, which varied between seven and 15 minutes in length, showed the baby monkeys being horrifically tortured by people believed to be in either Thailand or Indonesia. The extreme videos included monkeys being nailed to a tree, mutilated and tortured with instruments including pliers, a hatchet and a machete, reports the Liverpool Echo.

The court heard the defendant also commented on the videos he shared. On one he said “now do as you are told”, while on another he said “a fav of mine this one”. On his third video he commented “this rat has nailed it”.

Mr Taylor and defence counsel Charles Lander told the court that there were no guidelines in which to refer to because the case was the first of its kind to be sentenced in the North West. Mr Taylor referenced a case heard at Worcester Crown Court where two women, Adriana Orme and Holly Le Gresley, will be sentenced next month for their own involvement in being part of a group that paid for baby monkeys to be taken from their mothers, then tortured and killed for pleasure.

The court heard Le Gresley admitted uploading 22 images and 132 videos. Both were exposed by a BBC investigation called ‘The Monkey Haters’ which uncovered the existence of streaming videos containing the torture of baby monkeys. Videos, primarily filmed in South-East Asia, and posted online showed the “disciplining” and tormenting of captive infant monkeys and the deliberate infliction of pain and fear, causing physical harm as well as emotional distress.

Investigations into the posting of these videos led officers to identify individuals across the UK and criminal investigations carried out by other police forces.

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Ian Harris told the defendant: “These offences are utterly repellent and have no place in a civilised society. You were a volunteer, not a conscript.” The judge told the defendant that an immediate custodial sentence was “unavoidable” and sentenced him to 20 months’ imprisonment.

Judge Harris also issued destruction of his mobile phone and the statutory surcharge. The defendant, wearing a black suit and sporting short black hair and glasses, attempted to hug his mum as he was led from the dock.

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