Two Students Jailed for Sadistic Lamb Killing with Fireworks
Two former agricultural college students have been sentenced to prison for what a judge described as a 'callous and sadistic' attack on a juvenile sheep, which they filmed while laughing and encouraging each other to kill the animal before blowing it up with fireworks.
Graphic Attack Filmed for Trophy
Leighton Ashby, 22, and Oakley Hollands, 20, both from farming backgrounds and former students at Plumpton College, drove to a field near Ditchling Beacon in the South Downs in November 2023. They invited two friends under the pretext of seeing a 'dead badger' but instead proceeded to chase a young ewe born that year.
The court heard how Ashby caught the lamb and violently assaulted it for approximately 30 minutes, punching and kicking the animal repeatedly. Hollands filmed the entire attack, during which he could be heard laughing and shouting 'kill it, kill it, kill it' to Ashby.
Prosecutor Jordan Franks detailed the horrific sequence: 'Mr Ashby kicked the sheep five times to the body and head. He put his arms around the head of the ewe and started punching it in the head, getting harder and harder until it seemed concussed and could not stand up. Mr Ashby dragged the sheep towards a wooden fence post where he smashed its head several times.'
Fireworks Used to Mutilate Corpse
After the lamb died from the beating, the pair inserted fireworks into its mouth and anus and detonated them, obliterating the mouth and mutilating the corpse. The two witnesses who had accompanied them kept their distance and returned to the car.
The students then returned to Plumpton College, where they kept a gruesome trophy of their crime: the sheep's ear tag placed inside an empty Monster energy drink can, which they hid in a communal college toilet.
Pattern of Animal Mutilation
The court heard that two additional videos were found on Hollands' device showing similar cruelty to animals, including a dead fox being cut in half and a badger being kicked. Prosecutor Franks said this demonstrated 'a worrying pattern of interest in the mutilation of animals.'
Both defendants pleaded guilty to the offense in August last year. Ashby, of Beckett Road in Ashford, Kent, was jailed for two years, while Hollands, of Mussenden Lane in Horton Kirby, Kent, received a 20-month sentence in a young offenders' institution.
Significant Public Backlash
The case triggered widespread public outrage, with 80 pages of correspondence received by the Crown Prosecution Service. Protesters lined the street outside Hove Trial Centre ahead of sentencing, and a community impact statement read in court described how members of the public experienced sleepless nights and anxiety after learning of the incident.
'The most overwhelming feeling was complete and utter shock and disgust,' the statement said, adding concerns that 'the defendants will transfer this behavior into their relationships with humans.'
Judge's Condemnation
Judge Stephen Gold expressed particular alarm that both defendants came from farming backgrounds and were studying agriculture at the time of the attack. 'Quite what satisfaction you could derive from chasing sheep is difficult to understand but you caught a lamb – a Romsey ewe – which you then kicked and beat to death for your own perverse satisfaction,' he said.
'The ordeal suffered by that defenseless animal is graphically portrayed on the video footage that you took during the attack. As if what had already been done was not bad enough, you decided to insert fireworks into the lamb to cause further suffering and mutilation of this innocent creature.'
Defense Arguments
Defense lawyers cited mitigating factors including the defendants' youth and mental health conditions. Laurence Harris, defending Ashby, said his client was remorseful and cited his autism and 'lack of maturity' as factors, noting that Ashby had received threatening letters and faced active hostility.
Caroline Baker, defending Hollands, acknowledged the seriousness of the crime but noted Hollands was only 18 at the time and living with undiagnosed ADHD. She said the intense public backlash had been 'hanging over him' and impacting him psychologically.
Both defendants are considered to remain a high risk to animals according to court assessments.
