Barnsley family caused flea-ridden pets 'prolonged suffering'
RSPCA inspector Vanessa Reid said when she attended the family's home in Standhill Crescent, Barnsley, in October, Blade had tried to greet her while "simultaneously nibbling and scratching as his skin"."In my seven-year career, I have never seen a dog so agitated and annoyed by fleas," she said."I asked [Janina] Booker and Ambleton if they were aware of fleas being present. He said yes, whilst she said no at exactly the same moment."Booker then conceded that she did know, and they had been bathing him in some flea shampoo to get rid of them."
Booker later told Ms Reid she had put a medical cone on the dog in March 2023, more than a year and a half earlier, to prevent him from scratching his ears.The cats had also suffered "obvious fur loss" across their bodies, and Charlie, the lighter of the two, was "heavily stained with urine" according to the inspector.As the animals' skin worsened over a number of months, it would have been "plainly obvious" to the owner that vet care was needed, she added.
The animals were signed over to RSPCA care and have made a good recovery, the charity said.Blade and Charlie have been rehomed while Benny is waiting to be adopted.Janine Booker, 53, Emma Booker, 31, and Ambleton, 51, were each given a two-month jail sentence suspended for one year.They were also each ordered to pay costs of £400 plus a £154 victim surcharge following a hearing at at Barnsley Magistrates' Court.
Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
18 minutes ago
- The Independent
Vicar who led rave-style ‘cult' in Church of England found guilty of assaulting female followers
A former priest accused of leading a rave-style evangelical cult in the Church of England has been found guilty of sexually assaulting his female followers. A trial heard Christopher Brain, who led the progressive Nine O-Clock Service (NOS) in Sheffield in the 80s and 90s, surrounded himself with women who wore lingerie or revealing clothes as part of his 'homebase team' who kept his house 'spotlessly clean'. The court heard the women – sometimes referred to as 'the Lycra Lovelies' or 'the Lycra Nuns' – were on a rota to help then-Reverend Brain with his every need. Some gave him 'sensual' massages which he told the jury were to relieve tension headaches. He was charged with one count of rape and 36 counts of indecent assault relating to 13 women between 1981 and 1995. On Wednesday, jurors at Inner London Crown Court found him guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women. However he was acquitted of another 15 charges of indecent assault against two women. The jury is still deliberating the rape charge and four further counts of indecent assault. The six-week trial heard how Brain, 68, was praised by the Archbishop of Canterbury after his 'club culture' inspired services at St Thomas' Church in Crookes, Sheffield, and later Ponds Forge leisure centre, drew hundreds of young congregants. He was fast tracked for Holy Orders as the movement took off, but it collapsed in controversy in 1995 after women alleged their charismatic leader had been sexually assaulting them, in some cases claiming he was helping to heal their sexual repression. Prosecutor Tim Clark KC told the court he 'abused his position first as a leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women'. When Brain was first confronted over claims he had abused up to 40 women, he replied: 'I thought it was more,' the court heard. Mr Clark said NOS became a cult in which members, who were vetted and organised into 'discipleship' groups, were isolated from their friends and families. 'Members of NOS became utterly dependent on NOS and desperate for the attention and praise of the defendant,' he added. 'They were encouraged to give up their time, finances and, eventually, their sense of self to this organisation and its leader.' One woman who first joined the church as a teenager said she viewed Brain as a 'form of prophet' who told her their contact was part of her 'sexual healing'. 'She found it impossible to leave, she made an effort one time but was talked out of it,' Mr Clark said. 'She describes becoming severely depressed. She stated that she engaged in the sexual activity, or more precisely submitted to it occurring, in order to survive.' Another woman said she 'viewed him as almost a God'. The prosecutor said Brain would suddenly appear in the lives of female members of NOS, often picking them up in his car whilst they were walking along. Women who did not keep the defendant happy would find themselves estranged from the group, he added. One female congregant, who believes she was 'brainwashed' by the priest, alleged he invited her to his home while his wife was away in 1983 or 1984, where he pinned her down and raped her. She told the jury she was moving her head 'from side to side' and 'saying no', adding: 'I couldn't get him off me.' Another woman said she had to be available to 'put him to bed'. On those occasions, he would undress and rub himself against her as she massaged him while wearing only her underwear, the court heard. Mr Clark said: 'She described going into a 'robotic' state doing this, she dreaded receiving his phone calls.' The jury was told Brain admitted to 'improper sexual conduct with a number of women' in the church in a bombshell 1995 BBC documentary, but denied this was abuse. He resigned from Holy Orders the same year. Giving evidence in his defence, Brain admitted he received back massages from women in the movement despite being married with a young child. Asked by his lawyer, Iain Simkins KC, 'what on earth possessed you to have a back massage from another woman', he responded: 'Why not?' He told the jury he suffered from 'terrible' tension headaches. He said people in the homebase team, formed to free up his time to take the religious movement on the road, were 'personal friends' and the massages were not part of their duties. He admitted to having sexual contact with up to six of his accusers, but insisted it was consensual. Some of the other alleged assaults simply did not happen, he claimed. He told the jury, 'I was the most radical ordained vicar there was' as he defended his actions, adding: 'I wasn't a traditional vicar, I was someone on a journey of radical research and experimentation.' He insisted NOS was a 'free, open, really caring, very fun environment' and as they started to develop their own theology around 1990, some members became interested in tantric celibacy. He added: "With some of my closest friends, it would be kissing sometimes, occasionally massaging, stroking. Anything more than that, we would back off.'
Daily Mail
19 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Leader of Nine O'Clock Service is found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault
A former priest and leader of the Nine O'Clock Service has been found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault. Chris Brain headed the high-profile evangelical movement in Sheffield during the 1980s and 1990s. The 68-year-old, of Wilmslow, Cheshire, was convicted after a trial at Inner London Crown Court. He was cleared of 15 other indecent assaults, while jurors are still considering four further counts and one charge of rape. This is a breaking news story, it will be updated soon.
The Sun
19 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ex-priest who led ‘cult-like' church group GUILTY of sexually abusing women he called ‘Lycra Nuns'
A FORMER priest who led a "cult-like" church group has been found guilty of sexually abusing women he branded "Lycra Nuns". Chris Brain, 68, abused his position as head of the Nine O'Clock Service (NOS) to allegedlytarget a "staggering number of women". The organisation targeted 18 to 30 years by using rave music and club culture to persuade them to sign up in the 1980s and 1990s. Brain then created a "homebase" team of "attractive women" that served him, his wife and his daughter at their home in Sheffield. He called them the "the Lycra Lovelies" or "the Lycra Nuns" after they were forced to wear lingerie and other revealing clothing. Brain has now been convicted 17 counts of indecent assault against nine women following a trial at Inner London Crown Court. Jurors are still deliberating on a further four counts of indecent assault and one charge of rape. Brain was cleared of a further 15 charges of indecent assault. Jurors heard the NOS services, which took place at 9pm on Sundays, featured multimedia, scantily dressed women and a live band. They attracted 600 people at their peak and were led by Brain, who wore the same cassock sported by actor Robert De Niro in the movie "The Mission". The court heard Brain's Church of England ordination was "fast tracked" in 1991. Some members donated large sums of money or gave up their inheritances or homes to NOS. But behind the scenes, Brain would groom his victims, force them to give him massages and re-enacted a film scene involving sexual abuse, it was said. He would also control the women by ostracising them from friends and family, make them wear the same clothing and lose weight. Brain, who had led a Christian rock band called Present Tense, used his power to turn the group into a "cult". Prosecutor Tim Clark KC said: "In truth, NOS became a closed and controlled group which the defendant dominated and abused his position first as the leader and then as an ordained priest to sexually assault a staggering number of women from his congregation." Concerns were raised about Brain's activities away from the church - including by one official who spoke about "scantily clad, lycra-wearing pretty young women" going to-and from the fiend's home. The man said they would go on a "regular basis" to perform "domestic duties" but was given a "roasting" for raising the issue. One "founder member" of the "homebase" team, who said she viewed Brain as "a form of prophet", told how up to five Lycra Nuns at a time would keep his home spotlessly clean. Another victim described Brain as a "predator hiding in plain sight", who "would pick off women who he viewed as vulnerable". Brain accepted engaging in sexual activity with some of the women but maintained it was consensual. But Mr Clark said any capacity the victims had to say no was removed by the "cult-like domineering nature" of Brain's control over them. He added: "He was the central figure in a cult, he decided the rules, he designed the punishments. "The defendant knew, as perhaps no one else in NOS knew, that these women feared ostracisation more than anything." In his evidence, Brain denied he was an "egomaniac" who wanted to "demonstrate power and control". He claimed the clothes worn by his homebase team were "completely normal" for that era and compared the outfits to those worn by Brit music group Soul II Soul. Brain also admitted massages from some NOS members but told jurors it was to relieve his tension headaches. The court heard he resigned from holy orders after allegations first emerged in the mid-1990s. The jury are expected to return to court tomorrow to continue their deliberations. 2
