Man Ordered to Pay Back Proceeds of Animal Welfare Crime

A man convicted in December 2019 of seven offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 has been ordered to forfeit £4,000 in cash and two Rolex watches.

Simon Davis, 35, of Acacia Crescent, Bedworth, was the subject of an RSPCA investigation, supported by Warwickshire Police, into his commercial dog breeding business known as Lions Lair Kennels.

The investigation established Davis had been breeding American Bully puppies and illegally cropping their ears solely for commercial exploitation. This practice is unlawful by virtue of the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

In January 2019 the force supported the RSPCA in executing a search warrant at Davis’s home and a number of other linked addresses.

Evidence supporting the illegal ear cropping allegations was recovered along with £4,000 in cash.

Subsequently three Rolex watches valued at approximately £18,000 were also seized under relatively new provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) 2002.

These provisions allow for the seizure and forfeiture of prescribed types of high value items – so-called ‘listed assets’ – in the same way as cash, when they have been obtained though, or were intended to be used in criminal conduct.

On 22 January 2020 Davis entered guilty pleas to seven offences relating to the illegal cropping of dogs ears between 2017 and 2019 contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006.

Davis was disqualified from owning, keeping and breeding dogs for 15 years.

He was also sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for 12 months, and required to undertake a period of unpaid work.

In addition he received an order for costs in the sum of approximately £10,500.

On Tuesday (10 March) he appeared at Nuneaton Magistrates’ Court where the court ordered forfeiture of the £4,000 in cash and two of the Rolex watches, under the Provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2000.

In addition the court ordered that one of the forfeited watches valued at approximately £10,000 be released to an insurance company.

Bob Turner of Warwickshire Police Economic Crime Unit said: “This is an unusual case in that one would not readily associate applications for forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) with offences involving animal cruelty.

“It is also the first case in which Warwickshire Police have secured an order for the forfeiture of ‘listed assets’.

“Criminals should be aware that not only will we continue to seek to deprive them of their cash, but also their luxury trappings, regardless of the nature of the unlawful conduct that financed their acquisition of them.”