Jail for 'badger baiting' criminals in North Yorkshire

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Police have warned that anyone caught badger baiting in North Yorkshire faces a lengthy prison sentence.

The stark message comes after two men were jailed for forcing their dogs to fight with a badger on farmland near Richmond.

Vigilant members of a Rural Watch scheme contacted North Yorkshire Police to report a vehicle in suspicious circumstances near Melsonby, on 25 January 2023.

Police officers attended straight away, and stopped two men in a Volvo estate car - Kenneth Kieron Wade, 29, and Stephen Thomas Rose, 39, both from Houghton-le-Spring.

Also inside the vehicle was a muddy spade, and three terrier dogs, all suffering from injuries - one so badly that it later had to have surgery under anaesthetic.

Nearby, police found a badger sett that had been dug up, more spades, and the body of a mauled badger.

Both men appeared at York Magistrates Court on 24 February 2025, and pleaded guilty to killing a badger and disturbing a sett. At an earlier hearing at York Crown Court, they also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the dogs.

Wade was jailed for a total of two years, and banned from keeping dogs for life.

Rose also pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to a man in Gateshead in a separate incident. He was jailed for 23 months, and banned from keeping dogs for 10 years.

The dogs were taken by North Yorkshire Police to be looked after, and have since been rehomed.

PC Hannah Lancaster, of North Yorkshire Police’s Rural Task Force, who led the investigation, said: “The injuries inflicted on the dogs and the badger during this incident were nothing short of horrifying. It’s beyond belief that anyone could stand by and watch animals suffering in this way.

“After a thorough investigation, it is right that Wade and Rose have been punished for their crimes – and other animals are protected from their cruelty.”

Sergeant Mark Earnshaw added: "Badger baiting is a barbaric offence, which inevitably results in terrible suffering to all the animals involved.

“There is simply no place for such abhorrent activities in North Yorkshire, and this case sends a clear message to those responsible: they will be caught by the police, and jailed by the courts.

"I'd particularly like to thank the members of the public who report suspicious activity in rural areas to us. As a direct result of their vigilance, and the police response, Wade and Rose now face many months behind bars."