Adam Britton: crocodile expert who raped and tortured dogs in his 'torture room' has sentencing delayed

British crocodile expert Adam Britton has had his sentencing delayed after he admitted to raping and torturing animals.

The 52-year-old disgraced zoologist admitted to 60 charges during a trial in Australia in September 2023. His crimes included bestiality, animal abuse and possession of child abuse images.

Britton, who once worked with Sir David Attenborough, is said to have abused more than 42 dogs before he was arrested in April 2022. His abuse resulted in the death of 39 canines.

The court during his trial at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory heard that he had a "sadistic sexual interest" in animals, and in particular dogs. Chief Justice Michael Grant excused many from the courtroom during the proceedings, explaining: "These facts contain material that can only be described as grotesque and perverse acts of cruelty which is confronting and distressing and which in my assessment have the potential to cause nervous shock."

Britton is believed to have sourced the animals on Gumtree Australia from pet owners in the Darwin region, where he resided, who "reluctantly" gave their animals away to the zoologist due to work or travel commitments. He would then house them inside a shipping container on his property, which was kitted out with filming equipment to capture footage of the rape and torture of the animals.

Videos of the crimes were posted onto online forums under pseudonyms, with one of the video being sent to police. This led to his eventual arrest.

Britton admitted eight counts of bestiality, 37 counts of aggravated animal cruelty and four counts of possessing and transmitting child abuse material. His sentencing has been delayed until May, after the prosecution team requested a delay to allow it to prepare a psychiatric report focusing on his prospects for rehabilitation.

One woman who protested outside of the hearing told DailyMail Australia: "He can't get away with these heinous crimes. Now his brief is asking for psychological tests to check his suitability for rehabilitation - how can that work? How can we let this monster back into a community with defenceless, voiceless, innocent animals? Really, the death penalty is the only way."