A ‘barbaric’ dog fighting gang which starved animals and kept them in brutal conditions before forcing them to brawl to the death have been jailed for more than 11 years.
The brutal ring, led by an international kingpin known as Dr Death, abused the dogs by filling them with steroids and pain killers to win thousands of pounds in battles held inside the garage of a couple’s village home.
For their barbaric treatment of the animals, the gang – led by Phillip Harris Ali – will serve a combined total of over 11 years behind bars.
The dogs in their custody endured cruel training regimes which included them being starved to fighting weight before taking part in fights – sometimes to the death.
Chelmsford Court heard that the dogs suffered serious injuries including broken legs and were kept in dirty conditions, some with no access to clean drinking water or proper bedding, and being left caged and alone for long periods.
Injured animals were treated by those in the fighting gang with makeshift medical kits rather than taken to qualified vets, in order to avoid detection.
Phillip Ali (left) also known as Dr Death has been sentenced to four years in prison. Stephen Brown (right) who was his ‘right-hand man’ was jailed for two years and six months after he was found guilty of five offences under the Animal Welfare Act
The dogs in their custody endured brutal training regimes which included them being starved to fighting weight before taking part in fights – sometimes to the death
The dogs in their custody endured brutal training regimes which included them being starved to fighting weight before taking part in fights – sometimes to the death
Three dogs being kept in kennels in the garden of Phillip Harris Ali’s home in Chigwell, Essex
Judge Jamie Sawyer said the gang showed ‘a shocking level of barbarism and callousness’ for the dogs involved in the case.
He said the fights, which took place in England, Ireland and France, were ‘highly planned and without a care for the welfare of the animals in question’.
The judge told the defendants: ‘Dogs were treated as a commodity by each of you. They were playing pieces in your game.’
Much of the key evidence in the case came from a phone belonging to Harris Ali, 67 from Chigwell in Essex, who was known as Dr Death.
This included photos and videos of dogs and gruesome match reports detailing how the animals were set upon each other, sent via the encrypted messaging app Signal.
Ali was sentenced to five years in total for 10 offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
His ‘right-hand man’, Stephen Albert Brown, 57, was jailed for two years and six months after he was found guilty of five offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
As the fighting ring’s medicine man, he got illegal veterinary medication and equipment and was involved in training dogs and arranging fights.
Personal trainer Billy Leadley, 38, who had a dog fighting pit in his home in Bambers Green, near Takeley in Essex, was jailed for a total of four years for 12 different offences.
The judge said reading a match report about one 58-minute fight at which Leadley was referee, in which one of the animals suffered two broken legs, was ‘horrific’.
His wife, hairdresser Amy Leadley, 39, who was not directly involved in the ring, was sentenced for various offences linked to keeping a premises for dog-fighting and not caring for the animals properly.
Animals were specially trained for the fights using treadmills, weighted collars, steroids and painkillers
The Dog Repair Book found at Stephen Brown’s property
RSPCA vets found dogs covered in scars where their skin had been torn and broken
The gang built an outside arena for dog fights during a trip to France
She was given an 18-month community order, 200 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity.
All four defendants have been banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.
RSPCA chief inspector Ian Briggs said: ‘Dog fighting is a barbaric and horrific blood sport which has been illegal in this country for almost 190 years; yet there is a secretive and clandestine underworld where it continues to happen today.
‘It has become a hobby, passion and source of entertainment for the people involved, but the reality is that the dogs involved suffer unimaginable pain, suffering, fear and distress.
‘This gang dedicated their lives to breeding, preparing and training what they believed were champion fighting dogs.
‘They enjoyed the build-up to a fight and the excitement of the bloody brawls, as well as trying to patch their injured and dying dogs back together after the event.
‘Sadly, some of the dogs in this case suffered severe injuries and were never found but a mobile phone recovered as part of the investigation included match reports that detailed awful and fatal injuries suffered by some of the dogs involved.’
A recent Channel 4 documentary called ‘Untold: Inside Britain’s Dog Fighting Gangs’ revealed just how lucrative illegal dog fights can be where owners earn as much as £100,000.
The programme shows the aftermath of a dog fight between two London gangs which is likened to a ‘murder scene’ with blood covering the floor and walls.
Filmed between London and the Midlands, the investigation shows trainers talking about losing 50 dogs to fights- detailing the harrowing injuries suffered.
These include ears being ripped off, broken legs, stomach lacerations and perhaps most brutally of all ‘snout breaking’ where the dog can no longer use its mouth.
Eastern European countries such as Bulgaria and Moldova have underground networks of trainers who breed and prepare dogs for fights across the world.
Trainers use secretive chat rooms and messaging apps such as Telegram to sell their dogs to buyers across Europe including Britain.
Fights held in the UK often taken place in warehouses, on industrial wasteland and on traveller camping sights far away from the eyes of the law.