A crocodile expert who raped and killed dogs has been jailed for more than 10 years over his 'grotesque' depravity.
Adam Robert Corden Britton was sentenced in Darwin Supreme Court on Thursday having previously pleaded guilty to 56 offences related to the torture and sexual exploitation of more than 42 dogs on his rural property.
Britton, who was born in the UK, was sentenced to 10 years and five months with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his April 2022 arrest.
Chief Justice Michael Grant warned the public gallery that he would have to describe Britton's offending that included 'grotesque cruelty toward animals'.
'Your depravity falls outside any ordinary human conception,' Justice Grant told Britton.
Justice Grant also ordered Britton be banned from owning or having on his property mammal-type animals for the term of his natural life.
Britton's barrister, who has asked not to be named because she has been subject to personal abuse and threats for representing him, had argued a lifetime ban on all animal ownership was an 'extreme measure'.
She argued Britton should be allowed to own or live with any creatures other than 'mammals' and the ban should not lifetime because of the 'reasonable prospects of rehabilitation'.
Members of the public gallery sobbed and gasped as the details of Britton's extensive and violent offending, resulting in the deaths of 39 dogs, including nine puppies, were read out.
Britton stood in the dock wearing a black suit with grey shirt and did not visibly react to Justice Grant's sentencing remarks.
Britton began offending in 2014 and continued until his arrest in April 2022 after a video of his vile acts, which he had shared online, was anonymously provided to Northern Territory animal welfare authorities.
The agreed facts stated Britton extensively filmed his offending in his so-called 'torture room' and shared videos online under pseudonyms while encouraging others to commit similar offences and offering 'how to' advice.
The vile acts took place within a shipping container on Britton's home as well as at 'secluded' locations throughout Darwin's outer suburbs.
Much of the abuse was filmed by Britton on mobile phones and on cameras placed on tripods, with the video later edited to 'black out' identifying features.
From 2020 until his arrest in 2022, Britton used the encrypted social media service Telegram to connect with 'like-minded' animal abusers.
A second account, known as Cerberus, was used to upload and disseminate videos made by Britton in which he discussed his 'kill count'.
The videos were saved onto Britton's devices under names relating to the location, breed or name of the animal, including 'Mastiff1', 'Pit1' and 'NewBlue1'.
According to the facts, Britton would refer to the cruelty as 'ZooSadism' and posted to Telegram groups such as 'New Wicked Kennel', which had 15 users.
In an online chat, Britton referred to his 'torture room' and what implements he would use, including a bread knife, before adding that: 'I can't stop myself hurting dogs.
'I am going to get another dog to kill tomorrow. I plan to hurt it, a lot. I am ridiculously excited about it,' he said.
'Your sheer and unalloyed pleasure is sickeningly evident from the recorded material,' Justice Grant said.
As well as torturing his dogs that he had raised, Britton bought sought canines featured in Gumtree Australia 'free to good home' adverts from unsuspecting owners in the Darwin region.
The once-respected academic, who was born in the UK and has worked for the BBC and National Geographic, sourced about 42 dogs over a two-year period for the sole purpose of torturing the animals to death on camera.
He would contact families who reluctantly gave their dogs up due to work or health issues, and would then send false updates to reassure the former owners their pets were 'happy' and 'doing well'.
According to court documents, the pets were usually dead by the time these updates were sent. Most of the dogs he acquired were horrifically abused and murdered within a few days of him gaining ownership.
Britton's online activity first raised the attention of police following a report by the Northern Territory (NT) Animal Welfare Branch in 2022.
The agency had reported a video made by Britton and posted to a 'gore website' that depicted him sexually abusing, torturing and killing one dog and eight puppies.
The female dog in the video was wearing a Darwin City Council 'Great pets start with you' collar, prompting an investigation by NT Police.
In April 2022, NT Police and AFP officers raided Britton's home and seized 44 items, including computers, cameras, hard drives, weapons and sex toys.
Police also located severed dog limbs in a freezer, a decomposing puppy in a filtration pond, and a severed dog head in a neighbouring property in the search.
Britton was also sentenced for possessing and transmitting 'the worst category' of child sexual abuse material.
His ex-wife Erin formally dropped his surname just two months after his arrest in 2022.
Britton grew up in England and received his Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Bristol before moving to Australia after 1996 to pursue his fascination with crocodiles.
He met his future wife and they set up a consultancy company, Big Gecko, which sold footage of crocodiles to television and film directors.
Their saltwater crocodile, Smaug, became something of a celebrity in his field and appeared in two horror films.
Britton and Erin also hosted Sir David Attenborough while he was filming the BBC's Life in Cold Blood docuseries.
She was a biologist and wildlife ranger who has assisted in a range of projects on sea turtles and counting crocodiles.
They were married for about 15 years, but she was often away for work and there is no suggestion that she knew about his dark secret.
Britton was a prominent NT crocodile expert and a senior researcher at Charles Darwin University and in that capacity he once hosted world-famous broadcaster and biologist David Attenborough.
None of his offending was against the reptiles.
Earlier Britton's barrister read the court an apology penned by her client.
'I take full responsibility for the demeaning crimes that I perpetrated on dogs,' Britton said.
'I deeply regret the pain and trauma that I caused to innocent animals and consequently to my family, friends and members of the community that I affected, I let you all down and I'm truly sorry.
'I now acknowledge that I've been fighting a rare paraphilic disorder for much of my life and that shame and fear prevented me from seeking the proper help I needed.'
Britton said 'no amount of words can convey how sorry and ashamed I am, nor undo what I did' but he was 'determined to prove I am better than this'.
'That I will seek long term treatment and that I will find a path towards redemption,' he said.
'Please give my family the space they deserve to heal, they were not aware or involved in any way.'
Paraphilia is defined as having persistent and recurrent sexual interests, urges, fantasies, or behaviors of marked intensity involving objects, activities, or even situations that are atypical in nature.
Crown prosecutor Marty Aust argued for a lifetime ban on mammal ownership saying Britton's paraphilia 'appears to be treatable but ever present'.
'We would submit that your honour would be satisfied that really there is an ever present risk in this case for this offender,' he said.
Britton's sentence was met with outrage by animal advocates.
Emma Hurst, an MP for the Animal Justice Party in NSW, slammed the sentence as 'pathetically weak'.
'These were horrific acts of animal cruelty,' Ms Hurst said.
'There is a well-researched link between violence towards animals and violence towards people.
'This man is a danger to other animals and the community. I am relieved to hear his sentence includes time behind bars - that's where a man like this belongs – but it is not long enough.'
