Man who posted online monkey torture videos jailed

Peter Stanley was given a 20-month sentence after pleading guilty to publishing an obscene article showing animal torture

A man who shared "horrific" videos of baby monkeys being tortured has been jailed.

Peter Stanley, 42, from Liverpool, posted three Facebook videos showing long-tailed macaques being abused.

The videos were spotted by an animal welfare group before police tracked Stanley down and raided his home.

Stanley, who admitted three counts of publishing obscene material, was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court to 20 months in prison.

'Distressing'

His arrest came after a BBC documentary, The Monkey Haters, uncovered the streaming of videos showing the torture of baby monkeys.

The footage, primarily filmed in South East Asia, showed monkeys being tormented and left in pain and emotional distress.

Thomas Quirk, senior crown prosecutor for the Mersey-Cheshire region, said: "The videos that Peter Stanley posted on to his page on the Facebook site are truly horrific.

"It has been a distressing case for both the police and the prosecution team to deal with.

"Why anyone could possibly want to be involved in this sort of thing is impossible to understand.

"Peter Stanley was publishing videos of animals being brutally injured, apparently for pleasure."

'Monetary gain'

Merseyside Police said the BBC documentary had helped officers identify suspects from around the UK.

Sgt Dan Goss said it had "uncovered the widespread sharing of content which showed the deliberate and gratuitous suffering of baby monkeys for 'entertainment', some of which was for monetary gain."

He said a similar investigation, carried out by West Mercia Police and the National Wildlife Crime Unit, had helped identify Stanley, of Dovecot Avenue in Knotty Ash, as being responsible for publishing similar content.

Ch Insp Kevin Lacks-Kelly, head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: "These crimes are committed behind a veil of secrecy by so called 'communities' and I hope the sentencing shows there is no place to hide for animal abusers."

Sarah Kite, co-founder of Action for Primates, said: "We are very grateful to Merseyside Police for taking this action against the posting of monkey torture videos on Facebook."