Tweet
Three men and one woman were all convicted by a jury [Wednesday 3 April] of a string of offences* following a four-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, which started on 4 March.
Phillip Harris Ali (DoB: 29/12/1956) - referred to in the dog fighting world as Dr Death - of Manford Way, Chigwell, Essex, was found guilty of 10 offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, including four offences of keeping and/or training a dog for use in a fight, and two of causing a fight.
Billy Leadley (DoB: 25/06/1985) - who is also known as GSK or Green Street Kennels - of Bambers Green, Takeley, Essex, entered a guilty plea to one offence - of causing unnecessary suffering to a dog by failing to provide veterinary treatment for an injury to the dog’s tail - part-way through the trial.
The jury also found him guilty of a further nine offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006; including keeping a premises for use in fighting, taking part in a fight by refereeing, and keeping and/or training a dog for use in a dog fight.
Billy’s wife, Amy Louise Leadley (DoB: 22/07/1984) also of Bambers Green, Takeley, Essex, was found guilty of three offences, under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, including keeping a premises for use in fighting.
Stephen Albert Brown (DoB: 28/04/1967) of Burrow Road, Chigwell, Essex, was found guilty of five offences, including three of keeping and/or training a dog for use in an animal fight.
At the end of the trial, Amy Leadley entered a guilty plea to one offence of failing to meet the needs of seven dogs in their house, while Billy Leadley entered guilty pleas to two additional charges, one of failing to meet the needs of nine dogs being kept outside, and owning a prohibited type of dog.
The RSPCA launched an investigation into dog fighting in the Essex and London areas after an officer visited Ali’s address, in Chigwell, Essex, in August 2021, following information relating to the welfare of a dog at the property. The officer, Nick Jonas, saw four dogs at the property - a pet inside the house, and three dogs being kept in kennels in the garden - and also found a portable kennel and two dog running machines.
RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer Jonas said, in his witness statement: “I observed a light-coloured female bull breed type, two-years-old, named Bonnie, with scars and scratches on her face and legs. When I questioned Ali about this he advised the dog has very thin skin and runs through bushes which cut her face. I also observed a cream female bull breed, seven-years-old, named Dotti, and a black male bull breed type, five-years-old, named Oscar.
“He advised that these dogs do not belong to him and that they belong to his friend in Ireland. He advised they get sent back and forth to be bred and that he cares for them here sometimes.
“At the end of the garden there was a shed, when asked if I was able to look in there he advised that the shed did not have anything in it. Inside there was a portable kennel and two dog running machines. When questioned about them, he advised he uses them to exercise the dogs.”
Based on what he saw, Officer Jonas passed on his concerns about the scarring and treadmills to the RSPCA’s Special Operations Unit - a taskforce which investigates serious and organised animal crime, including dog fighting.
Dogs seized
The team - led by Inspector Kirsty Withnall - began to gather information and intelligence on Ali, prompting a warrant at his Chigwell address on 14 March 2022 which was executed by the Metropolitan Police. Two dogs - Dotti and Oscar - were seized by police and placed into RSPCA care.
Dog fighting paraphernalia- including a slat mill, two treadmills, four break sticks and two flirt poles - were all recovered from Ali’s home, as well as a DIY vet kit.
In her witness statement, Inspector Withnall said: “At the very end of the garden after the kennels was a garden room which housed two treadmills, which were plugged in and in working order. There was also a slat mill. These were clearly for dogs, each of them had a chain on them where you would attach a dog. One of the treadmills had a homemade wooden structure built on top of it which would have kept a dog secure.”
Her statement added: “I have seen the weighing unit, break sticks and flirt poles in dog fighting investigations before. The dogs will be weighed before a fight, the break sticks are to break the dogs apart when they are fighting and ‘locked on’, and the flirt poles are a training aid to get the dogs to jump up and strengthen their back legs.”
Referring to a vet kit that was seized from the property, Inspector Withnall said: “This was a substantial vet kit; it contained items such as two skin staplers, an IV kit for fluids, bandages, needles, steroids, antibiotics, painkillers and medication. I have seen homemade vet kits used by people that fight dogs before, this is because they will treat the dogs themselves rather than take the dogs to the vet and raise suspicion.”
A mobile phone - which no one claimed ownership of - was also seized from Ali’s address. Investigators managed to get access to the phone using Ali’s year of birth as the password. The Apple ID used his email address and the phone’s device name was ‘Phillip’s iPhone’.
Ali’s phone showed some of the men had been using WhatsApp and another secure messaging app to communicate. Ali had recorded hours worth of WhatsApp voice notes - which were then sent to some of the other men - describing planning ahead of the fights as well as the injuries the dogs had suffered in fights and how he was treating them.
In her witness statement, Inspector Withnall added: “The phone content is completely dog related … most of the content is linked to dog fighting, which includes training / conditioning of dogs, the use of treadmills, the weighing of dogs (pre-fight), the fighting of dogs or the treating of dogs after a fight.
“There are a large number of photos of bull terrier type dogs, some are heavily scarred or injured, including facial or leg injuries … There are screenshots of photos of two bull type dogs with wording implying they were to fight each other. There are photos and videos of different dog fights, the dogs and the pits they are held in have blood on them.
“There are voice notes to and from Ali and [another man based in Ireland] discussing dog fighting, including lots of lengthy messages regarding the training of the dogs, the dogs being in a keep… It was clear from the messages that Ali was treating very sick and ill dogs, he talks about putting dogs on drips and injecting them, the dogs ‘hanging on’, being sick and having very bad diarrhoea. It was clear from the messages this medication was for use after the dog fights. Ali sent a voice note saying they were notorious in the dog fighting world and others were jealous of their status and how good their fighting dogs were.”
Evidential ‘goldmine’
A number of deleted dog fighting videos were also recovered from Ali’s phone.
Speaking outside of court following the verdicts, SOU investigator Chief Inspector Ian Muttitt - who gave evidence during the trial - said: “The mobile phone was a goldmine of information and evidence. It contained graphic videos and images of brutal dog fights, match reports following organised fights, information relating to some of the men’s travel plans and accommodation for specific fights, as well as messages between a number of the defendants planning fights, talking about training regimes, and discussing the injuries dogs had suffered.”
The investigation team collated enough evidence - including intelligence provided by the League Against Cruel Sports - for three further warrants which were executed by Essex Police and Merseyside Police on 18 May 2022 - at the Leadleys’ address in Takeley, near Bishops Stortford, in Essex; at Brown’s address in Chigwell, Essex; and at a third address in Merseyside.
Sixteen dogs were seized from the Leadleys’ address in Takeley, including a large number of bullbreeds thought to have been used for fighting, many being kept in poor conditions in a garage, plus two smaller breeds who were removed on welfare grounds from the house. One dog was seized from the property in Merseyside.
In her statement, discussing the dogs at Leadley’s address, Inspector Withnall said: “The left hand side of the garage housed eight bull breed dogs in individual pens. Some pens had a kennel / bed area and none of the dogs had water. They had shavings on the floor. The doors to garage B were shut when we arrived and the area was dark, dingy and filthy. There was a large amount of cobwebs everywhere. The garage was warm, yet it was early in the morning and smelt strongly of urine and faeces. There were empty bowls in the middle of the garage area.”
Scales found at Leadley’s property matched a photo of scales shared in a Whatsapp message and screenshotted on Ali’s phone; linking the two with the organisation of a fight between Oscar and Harry.
A slat mill, vet kit and books about dog fighting were all recovered from Brown’s address; while a flirt pole, two slat mills, weighted collars and other weight training equipment, plus four break sticks were all seized from the Leadleys’.
Inspector Withnall’s statement said: “There are numerous messages between Brown and Ali regarding training and conditioning dogs for dog fights, logistics of attending dog fights and treating injured dogs after they have fought … It can be seen from the voice notes on Ali’s phone that Brown looks after the dogs before Ali starts more of their fitness work.”
At Leadley’s property, inspectors also discovered a dog fighting pit. In her statement, Inspector Withnall said: “Behind the middle area of the garage was what I recognise to be a dog fighting pit. This boxed-in area measured 12ft long and 8ft wide, there was a door into the area from inside the garage... The area had a cream carpet and it looked like there could be blood splatters on the wall, so it was arranged for scenes of crime officers to attend. I recognised this area to match photos I had seen on Ali’s phone (dated 20/10/21 and 21/10/21) of a black bull breed dog and a tan bull breed dog fighting in this pit area.”
Two thumbnails from a deleted video found by investigators on Ali’s phone were shown to the court, showing two dogs fighting in the pit later found at Leadley’s address. In defence, Leadley told the court that the image showed two dogs mating.
Forensic tests were undertaken on 10 samples from the fighting pit area and confirmed that blood came from at least five different dogs.
International dog fights
Speaking outside of court following the verdicts, Chief Inspector Muttitt said: “The information on the phone linked most of the defendants together and we could see that they’d been involved in at least four dog fights; one held in Essex, at the Leadleys’; one in Ireland; and one in France, for which they flew into Bordeaux. The other fight was held at an unknown location in England.”
The first fight occurred on the weekend of 16/17 October 2021 between dogs Oscar (Ali’s) and Harry (Leadleys’) at the Leadleys’ Takeley address. The match report, also saved on Ali’s phone, showed that Oscar won the fight, stating: ‘He hits Harry in the throat and is driving in hard’. Oscar was later seized and taken into RSPCA care following the warrant at Ali’s home.
Messages on the phone referenced Oscar’s treatment after the fight and suggested that one round had lasted 45 minutes. Harry was never found.
A second fight took place between 12-15 November 2021 in France, with a number of the men travelling to the Bordeaux area. Dotti (Ali’s) was one of the fighters. The match report showed that Dotti won the fight in six minutes.
The phone also held a photo of Ali and Brown with a number of unidentified men out at dinner together after Dotti’s win.
A third fight took place on 27/28 November 2021 between Bonnie - seen at Ali’s when Officer Jonas visited in August 2021 - and a dog called Merengue. It’s not clear where this fight took place but it was refereed by Billy Leadley.
The match report, found on Ali’s phone, declared Merengue the winner, adding: ‘Bonnie now getting tired loss of blood and one of her front legs has been broken… possible both and then she starts to lay down and it’s going one way.”
Speaking outside court after the hearing, Chief Inspector Muttitt said: “The match report showed that Bonnie lost the fight within 25 minutes and suffered two possible broken legs in the brawl. She was never located during our investigation so we have no idea what happened to her after she suffered such severe injuries.”
A fourth fight took place between 25-27 February 2022 in Ireland and evidence showed Ali, Brown and others travelled to Ireland with the dog, Olivia, who lost to a dog called Mojo. Ali handled Olivia in the fight. Messages retrieved from his phone show she subsequently died from her injuries.
Chief Inspector Muttitt added: “We had messages that showed that there was a planned fight for the weekend of 25/26 March 2022. Dotti and Oscar were due to fight later in the year but we executed our warrant on 14 March and seized both dogs from Ali’s property so fortunately these fights never went ahead.”
In a voice message, sent by Ali and recovered from a phone found at one of the May 2022 warrants, Ali said he intended to reschedule the fights if he got the dogs back from the RSPCA. And another voice note, sent by Ali to Brown, said both Oscar and Dotti had been matched for fights later in the year, with prize pots of £3,000 and £5,000 respectively.
- Amy and Billy Leadley, Phillip Ali and Stephen Brown will all appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on 3 June for sentencing.