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New Forest: Brothers who filmed themselves torturing wildlife jailed | UK News


Kristen and Todd Cooper tortured animals in front of other men who found it ‘amusing’

Two brothers who roved around a national park capturing and torturing wildlife have been jailed.

Kristen and Todd Cooper, 24 and 29, filmed themselves gleefully attacking helpless animals over two years, including mutilating a deer’s genitals, stabbing another deer in the eye and ordering a dog to bite a captured hare.

A vet told jurors it was ‘the worst case of animal abuse’ he had seen in his 24-year career, while one detective said the Coopers committed ‘some of the most horrifying offences’ of any kind he had investigated.

The ‘sadistic’ incidents took place mainly at night in rural areas of the New Forest in Hampshire in 2021 and 2022.

One video showed a man dragging deer by their antlers despite the animals showing signs of spinal injuries consistent with being hit by a car.

On another occasion, the pair held down a deer while striking it in the head with a blunt wooden object.

Another clip showed a man raising a wooden object above the head of a deer as if to strike it.

Two New Forest men have been jailed for a total of eight years and eight months for assault, animal cruelty and possession of offensive weapons. Brothers, Kristen Christopher Cooper, 24, of Whitelands in Bransgore and Todd James Edward Cooper, 29, of Jubilee Court in Sway were sentenced at Southampton Crown Court yesterday (Friday 19 January). During last August?s five-day trial for the assault and weapons offences, the court heard how both Cooper brothers, and another man, chased a member of the public into a Co-Op store on Betsy Lane just before 5pm on Saturday 4 March 2023. The member of the public was pushed to the floor before having a catapult fire an item in his direction. No injuries were caused but the Cooper brothers, and their accomplice, fled the scene. A short while later on the same day, at approximately 7.30pm, a further incident occurred outside the same Co-Op store on Betsy Lane. A black SUV was seen by CCTV to ram into the back of a Vauxhall Astra ? pushing the Astra into a parked car, before the occupants of the SUV vacated the vehicle and confronted those in the other vehicle. Kristen and Todd Cooper were identified as being the men in the SUV, who caused damage to the Vauxhall Astra using a crowbar and a baseball bat. A catapult ? utilising a ball bearing ? was fired into the vehicle. The ball bearing was later seized by police when the vehicle was recovered for evidential purposes. The jury returned a verdict on Friday 25 August at Southampton Crown Court and found both Kristen Cooper and Todd Cooper guilty of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of making threats to cause injury with offensive weapons and one count of criminal damage. Kristen and Todd Cooper were each jailed for three years in relation to these offences. Reacting to the sentencing, Sergeant Paul Buckland, of the Criminal Investigation Department, said: ?I am extremely pleased with today?s outcome and to see that justice has now been served in this case. ?These men will now spend a significant amount of time behind bars, which is exactly where they belong. ?Today?s sentencing means these men can no longer harm anyone else.? ?To echo the judge?s remarks while sentencing, the whole incident must have been extremely traumatic for the victims. ?It is abundantly clear that these two men believed they could terrorise New Forest residents with impunity, with a total disregard for any consequences. ?I must place on record my thanks to the victims in this case for their support, assistance and determination throughout the investigation and court process. ?I hope these sentences will help them to move on with their lives, safe in the knowledge that these men are locked away.? Kristen Cooper was also sentenced to two years? imprisonment after admitting seven offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Kristen Cooper was jailed for five years for animal cruelty, assault and weapons offences

When officials found the deer whose genitals had been mutilated, its injuries were so bad they could not tell whether it was male or female.

Images recovered by detectives appeared to show the Coopers taking part in coursing, in which dogs are set on hares for sport.

In one video, Kristen could be seen holding a captured hare by its head and commanding a dog to bite it.

The videos showed other people watching who ‘seemed to find it all very amusing’, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Two New Forest men have been jailed for a total of eight years and eight months for assault, animal cruelty and possession of offensive weapons. Brothers, Kristen Christopher Cooper, 24, of Whitelands in Bransgore and Todd James Edward Cooper, 29, of Jubilee Court in Sway were sentenced at Southampton Crown Court yesterday (Friday 19 January). During last August?s five-day trial for the assault and weapons offences, the court heard how both Cooper brothers, and another man, chased a member of the public into a Co-Op store on Betsy Lane just before 5pm on Saturday 4 March 2023. The member of the public was pushed to the floor before having a catapult fire an item in his direction. No injuries were caused but the Cooper brothers, and their accomplice, fled the scene. A short while later on the same day, at approximately 7.30pm, a further incident occurred outside the same Co-Op store on Betsy Lane. A black SUV was seen by CCTV to ram into the back of a Vauxhall Astra ? pushing the Astra into a parked car, before the occupants of the SUV vacated the vehicle and confronted those in the other vehicle. Kristen and Todd Cooper were identified as being the men in the SUV, who caused damage to the Vauxhall Astra using a crowbar and a baseball bat. A catapult ? utilising a ball bearing ? was fired into the vehicle. The ball bearing was later seized by police when the vehicle was recovered for evidential purposes. The jury returned a verdict on Friday 25 August at Southampton Crown Court and found both Kristen Cooper and Todd Cooper guilty of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of making threats to cause injury with offensive weapons and one count of criminal damage. Kristen and Todd Cooper were each jailed for three years in relation to these offences. Reacting to the sentencing, Sergeant Paul Buckland, of the Criminal Investigation Department, said: ?I am extremely pleased with today?s outcome and to see that justice has now been served in this case. ?These men will now spend a significant amount of time behind bars, which is exactly where they belong. ?Today?s sentencing means these men can no longer harm anyone else.? ?To echo the judge?s remarks while sentencing, the whole incident must have been extremely traumatic for the victims. ?It is abundantly clear that these two men believed they could terrorise New Forest residents with impunity, with a total disregard for any consequences. ?I must place on record my thanks to the victims in this case for their support, assistance and determination throughout the investigation and court process. ?I hope these sentences will help them to move on with their lives, safe in the knowledge that these men are locked away.? Kristen Cooper was also sentenced to two years? imprisonment after admitting seven offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Todd Cooper was jailed for three-and-a-half years for similar offences

The vet, who had to watch the videos as an expert witness, told the court: ‘These images will stay with me forever.’

Just days after the Coopers were released on bail following their arrest, they attacked a mother and her son outside a supermarket in Bransgore.

Footage show in court showed the pair and a third man ramming another car before getting out and attacking the vehicle with a catapult, a crowbar and a baseball bat.

The mother told jurors she ‘genuinely believed they wanted to kill us’.

Two men have been jailed for animal cruelty offences following an investigation by officers from Dorset Police?s Rural Crime Team, with support from colleagues in Hampshire. Kristen Cooper, aged 24, and of Bransgore in Hampshire, was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court on Friday 19 January 2024 after admitting seven offences of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal following an investigation by Dorset Police. He was also sentenced for further offences in Hampshire. Cooper received a total prison sentence of five years. The charges followed a warrant executed at the defendant?s address on Monday 3 October 2022.

Images suggested the men went out at night to set dogs on hares in rural areas

Kristen Cooper, from Bransgore, admitted seven animal cruelty offences and an array of other charges including handling stolen goods, criminal damage and driving uninsured.

Todd, from Sway, admitted the offence involving the deer which was held down and struck.

Both were also found guilty of assault and weapons offences.

Kristen was jailed for five years and banned from owning a dog for 10 years, while Todd was jailed for three-and-a-half years.

He said: “One would have thought that both of you being brought up in the New Forest you would have had more respect for such defenceless creatures.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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