‘Dr Death’ and barbaric gang are jailed for illegal dog f ights
FOUR members of a ‘callous’ dog-fighting gang that included a ringleader called ‘Dr Death’ were jailed for a combined 11 years yesterday.
Breeds including banned pitbulls were subjected to brutal training regimes; beefed up with steroids and fed starvation diets to make weight before a bout.
Many suffered horrific injuries such as broken legs and gaping wounds that left vicious scars.
They were treated with makeshift medical kits using advice taken from a paperback called ‘The Dog Repair Kit’ to avoid contact with vets, who would have reported the gang to authorities.
Phillip Ali, 67, of Chigwell, Essex, was jailed for five years after he was convicted of ten offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
His right-hand man Stephen Brown, 57, who provided rudimentary health care for the injured dogs, received two and a half years for five offences.
Personal trainer Billy Leadley, 38, was convicted of 12 offences and jailed for four years. The father of two had a dog-fighting pit at his home. He narrated a ‘horrific’ 58-minute match report for one bout, during which one of the animals broke two legs.
Leadley’s wife, Amy, 39, was not directly involved in the gang but received an 18-month community order and must undertake 200 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehabilitation activity.
She was found guilty of offences relating to the keeping of a premises for dog fighting and not caring for the animals properly.
Attacking the gang’s ‘shocking level of barbarism’, Judge Jamie Sawyer said: ‘Dogs were treated as a commodity by each of you. They were playing pieces in your game.’ The group secretly arranged fights with prize pots of up to £5,000 in England, Ireland and France using the encrypted messaging service Signal, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
They were caught after the RSPCA received a report of concern for an animal’s welfare at the home of Ali – who had previously received a 15-year jail term for attempted murder and was nicknamed ‘Dr Death’ in the dogfighting world. An inspector who visited the property in August 2021 found a treadmill, as well as scars on dogs’ faces.
After gathering evidence, Scotland Yard officers raided Ali’s home, where they found a vet kit containing steroids, antibiotics and skin staplers.
There were also break sticks, which are used to separate fighting dogs.
Ali’s mobile phone proved to be a ‘gold mine’ of information with travel plans, videos of dogs and stomach-churning match reports. It also led police to his three co-defendants.
In one of his commentaries, Ali could be heard saying: ‘Bonnie now getting tired. Loss of blood and one of her front legs has been broken.’
Officers later found 16 dogs at the Leadley’s home in Takeley, Essex, including a large number of bull breeds.
A 12ft by 8ft dog-fighting pit spattered with blood was discovered in the garage. Forensic tests carried out on a sample of the blood showed it came from at least five different dogs.
After the sentencing, Ian Muttitt, chief inspector of the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit, said: ‘[The gang] caused a huge amount of suffering over a prolonged period of time.’
PC Kerry Rowson, of Essex Police, added that ‘the brutal crimes... were cruel, calculated and entirely for their own profit’.
‘Steroids and skin staplers found’