DEPRAVED: FIFE MAN JAILED FOR WILDLIFE CRIME
An ‘urban hunter’ has been jailed for a horrific catalogue of wildlife crime in Fife.
Shocking videos of a pet cat and a roe deer being killed by a dog were shown in court.
The filming was done by “depraved” Brandon Robb, who cruelly gloated over the suffering of dying animals in the videos.
Robb, already a convicted child rapist, was given more jail time for the wildlife offences when he appeared for sentencing at Kirkcaldy Sheriff Court today.
The offences took place at various locations, including near to Kelty, Cowdenbeath, Scotlandwell and Leslie.
One incident involved a domestic cat which was killed as Robb shouted encouragement to his dog. The cat suffered sickening injuries to its head as it was mutilated in the attack.
Robb hunted roe deer, rabbits, hares, a fox cub and used a catapult to injure birds before setting his dog on them.
One of these videos ended up on TikTok and the matter was reported to the police. When Robb was arrested and his phone seized, the other videos were found.
Robb, 28, from Leslie, previously admitted 21 charges involving offences committed in the latter months of 2022.
Sentencing had been delayed for several months as he had a High Court case pending for rape.
At an earlier hearing, depute fiscal Sarah Noone warned that the video clips she would show in court were “graphic”.
They involved attacks on the cat and one of the cases with a roe deer, which was bitten in the neck and a dog ripped at its carcass.
In the videos, animals could be heard squealing in agony as they were attacked by Robb’s lurcher dogs.
In one incident, Robb was heard boasting that his dog had a “mangled hare” in its mouth.
At today’s sentencing Sheriff John MacRitchie described his actions as “appalling” and “egregious”.
He commented, “I’ve seen the film and I don’t think anyone who saw it would forget it.”
He noted that during the videos Robb appeared to find the various attacks “amusing”.
The sheriff jailed Robb for a year to run consecutive to his current sentence.
He also imposed an indefinite disqualification order banning Robb from owning, keeping, working with or having any other contact with animals.
He told Robb this order would be as wide-ranging as possible “to protect animals from your depraved conduct”.
On 30th June at the High Court in Edinburgh, Robb was jailed for seven years for the rape of children in Fife.
He was given an extended sentence of 13 years, with six years of supervision after his release from prison. He was also put on the sex offenders register for life.
