TWO women accused of being involved in a monkey torture ring have appeared in court as angry protests erupted outside.
Adriana Orme, 55, of The Beeches, Upton and Holly LeGresley, 37, of Baldwin Road, Kidderminster appeared at Worcester Magistrates Court on Tuesday .
There were protests and shouts outside the court with LeGresley, who wore a hood and mask, at one stage barricaded inside the court's revolving doors by a protestor who wedged the doors using his foot.
There were calls, directed at LeGresley, who later admitted the offences of 'disgusting!' and 'disgrace!' and 'what did the monkey feel like?' as she entered the court through the main doors on Castle Street.
The case was called on in court two at around 10am with both defendants standing side by side in the dock.
LeGresley, who walked with the aid of a stick, admitted publishing an obscene article, namely 22 images and 132 videos of monkey torture by uploading them to online chat groups between March 25 and May 8, 2022.
She further admitted intentionally encouraging/assisting the commission of an either way offence, namely the payment of £17.24 to a Paypal account in the name mike4388.mac1@gmail.com.
The charge, read out in full, was that this 'was capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an either way offence, namely the causing of unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, intending to encourage or assist in its commission'.
Orme did not indicate a plea to the two charges she faces. These were publishing an obscene article between April 22 and June 16, 2022, namely one image and 26 videos of monkey torture by uploading them to online chat groups.
She is also accused of intentionally encouraging/assisting the commission of an either way offence on April 26, namely a payment of £10 to a Paypal account in the name mike4388mac1@gmail.com.
The charge says the offence was 'capable of encouraging or assisting the commission of an either way offence, namely the causing of unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, intending to encourage or assist in its commission'.
Angla Hallan, prosecuting, said: "The Crown would submit, due to the unusual legal, procedural complexities of this this particular case, that the matter would not be suitable to be dealt with at this court and the sentencing powers are inadequate."
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Mrs Hallan explained that West Mercia Police had been informed about the case by the Animal Welfare Committee where videos were being uploaded by a male using the name 'Torture King'.
The offences were said to have been carried out in Indonesia. The case was heard by a bench of three magistrates, chaired by Simon Egerton.
He said: "Stand ladies if you will. We have heard what has been said this morning and the bench do agree with what has been said and we would not take this matter in the magistrates court. We would move it to the crown court, primarily because our sentencing powers are inadequate for this offence.
"As we have heard, the complexities of this matter mean it is not appropriate for the magistrates court so we send it to the crown court."
Orme's case will be heard at Worcester Crown Court on June 5 at 10am. As part of her bail she must have no unsupervised with or any responsibility for an animal or have unsupervised contact with any person under 18.
LeGresley will next appear at Worcester Crown Court on June 7 at 10am. As part of her bail she must have no unsupervised contact with or any responsibility for an animal or have unsupervised contact with any person under 18. An all options pre-sentence report was also ordered.
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