[Ammi]

A British woman has pleaded guilty to uploading content of monkeys being tortured to a global network of online chat groups.

Holly LeGresley, 37, from Kidderminster, was charged following an investigation by the BBC into torture of monkeys overseas.

She uploaded 22 images and 132 videos of the animal cruelty to online chat groups.

The 37-year-old covered her face with a surgical mask as she left Worcester Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

She was told that “all options” will be available at her sentencing hearing next month after she pleaded guilty to separate charges of publishing obscene articles and intentionally encouraging animal cruelty.

The court was told that the case against LeGresley, of Baldwin Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, should be transferred to Worcester Crown Court because magistrates’ powers of punishment were insufficient.

Prosecutor Angla Hallan told the court: “The Crown submit that due to the unusual legal, procedural and factual complexity of this particular case, that the matter would not be suitable to be dealt with in these courts.”

Although she did not open detailed facts of the case, Ms Hallan said it fell into the category of “sadism and high harm”.

West Mercia Police charged LeGresley, the court heard, after being informed by the national wildlife crime unit.

A second defendant, Adriana Orme, 55, of The Beeches, Ryall, near Upton-upon Severn, also Worcestershire, did not indicate any plea to similar charges.

The court was told the women had “not carried out monkey torture themselves”.

Ms Hallan told the court both women had been charged after being identified as having been part of online chat groups, after the BBC had been involved in “exposing the trade”.

Orme is alleged to have published an obscene article by uploading one image and 26 videos of monkey torture between April 14 and the June 16 2022, and to have encouraged or assisted the commission of unnecessary suffering by making a £10 payment to a PayPal account on April 26 2022.

LeGresley, who left court without comment, admitted uploading images of monkey torture between March 25 and May 8 2022, and made a payment of £17.24 to a PayPal account to encourage cruelty on April 25 of the same year.

Although details of the BBC’s undercover investigation were not given in court, a BBC Eye inquiry led to at least 20 people being placed under investigation globally last year.

The investigation exposed a global monkey torture network involving a private online group paying people in Indonesia to kill and torture baby monkeys on video.

The BBC reported that LeGresley used the username “The Immolator” and ran a poll for members of the group on which method of torture should be inflicted upon an infant monkey.

The case against Orme was transferred to the Crown Court, where she was ordered to appear on June 5.

LeGresley will face sentence at the higher court on June 7.

Both defendants were granted conditional bail and ordered not to have unsupervised contact with any animal or child.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...-b2540893.html

[arista]

Evil

[Crimson Dynamo]

death penalty

[arista]

Holly LeGresley leaving court.


[LeGresley, who left court without comment,
admitted uploading images of monkey torture between
March 25 and May 8 2022, and made a payment
of £17.24 to a PayPal account to encourage
cruelty on April 25 of the same year.

Although details of the BBC’s undercover
investigation were not given in court,
a BBC Eye inquiry led to at least 20 people
being placed under investigation
globally last year.
The investigation exposed a global monkey torture
network involving a private online
group paying people in Indonesia to kill
and torture baby monkeys on video.]


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/pa...stigation.html

[Ammi]

LeGresley will be sentenced at crown court on 7 June.
BBC Eye identified her as a participant in a group run by a US man called Mike Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who served time in prison and went by the screen name "Torture King".

LeGresley, who at the time was living with her parents in the Midlands, was among the most active participants in the group and was made a group moderator by Macartney.
She would often message privately with Macartney, who pleaded guilty this month to animal abuse charges in the US and is facing up to five years in prison.
Kevin Lacks-Kelly, the head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, said LeGresley played a key and active role in the global torture network.
He said she was much more than a spectator, that she raised funds, archived videos to share between groups and acted as an admin in the groups welcoming new members.
"I've been investigating wild crime for 22 years and it sickens me to say that this is unequivocally the worst case I have ever investigated or overseen," he said.
Sarah Kite, a co-founder of the animal charity Action for Primates who investigated the groups, said LeGresley "unquestionably derived enjoyment from watching helpless infant monkeys in terror and pain fighting for their lives".
"The depth of the depravity and perversion... in facilitating the horrific and gratuitous torture and killing of vulnerable baby monkeys was sickening, something I had never seen previously," she said.

[Ammi]

…it’s a worldwide group of people who log on to sites to be able to watch these tortures, it’s so incredibly horrific ….

[Niamh.]

Wtf is wrong with people?

[smudgie]

I mentioned this in another thread.
Evil subhuman scum.
Those poor babies, and their family unit.

[UserSince2005]

Monkeys are ****ing evil, hate the things.
I only like cute little marmosets.
But yes this woman is evil also.

[Kate!]

Omg what a sicko

[Swan]

I hope she suffers a long, horrible death.

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Swan

I hope she suffers a long, horrible death.

We should vote on how she should be tortured. Like she did to innocent creatures.

[Alf]

Don't look back in anger. You racists

[Swan]

Originally Posted by Kate!

We should vote on how she should be tortured. Like she did to innocent creatures.

Yep, would happily participate in that.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Swan

I hope she suffers a long, horrible death.

[Ammi]

…I don’t in any way defend Holly LeGresley…but she’s only one person in ‘a ring of…’….and there are also all of those people who log onto sites to watch this animal torture…that’s so incredibly disturbing ….’a global torture network…’….I don’t know what the maximum sentences are for such things but crikey, I hope that’s what’s given to all who have been charged…

[Vanessa]

This is so awful. I can't even imagine