WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
The ex-wife of a disgraced crocodile expert who raped and tortured dozens of dogs has broken her silence over her partner’s sickening crimes.
British zoologist Adam Robert Corden Britton, 53, was sentenced to 10 years in jail in Australia in August after pleading guilty to 63 charges including bestiality, animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material.
Britton, who worked on programmes for the BBC and even welcomed Sir David Attenborough to his home, was arrested in April 2022 after police raided the property he shared with his wife and fellow biologist Erin in Darwin’s outskirts.
He had filmed himself as he raped, tortured and killed as many as 42 pet dogs in the 18 months prior to his arrest – and sickeningly posted footage online for others to watch.
Erin was away from home on a work trip at the time of Britton’s arrest and learned for the first time what he’d been doing when she received a call from his lawyer.
‘When she told me bestiality (charges) … my brain was in denial,’ she told 60 Minutes.
‘It was so shocking and I felt sick, I couldn’t speak.’
Britton was given a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his April 2022 arrest, and had been contacting his wife from behind bars in the lead up to his sentencing.
The ex-wife and fellow biologist of depraved animal abuser Adam Britton, Erin (both pictured), has revealed the moment his lawyer revealed his vile acts following his arrest
The once-celebrated zoologist (pictured centre alongside David Attenborough and Erin) raped, tortured and killed as many as 42 dogs in an 18-month period leading up to his arrest
Shockingly, Britton wrote to Erin, asking her to send him books on dog domestication, breed history and behaviour.
She said the ‘disturbing’ request ‘messed’ with her head, considering the charges he had just recently pleaded guilty to.
‘He’s writing about this as if he can, sort of, continue his fantasies in his mind, and it makes me really angry,’ she said.
Erin has since divorced Britton – they hadn’t slept in the same room or been romantically involved for years – but still can’t fathom the extent of his sickening acts.
‘I cannot comprehend still how someone can be so depraved, so evil,’ she said.
‘He’s just destroyed my entire life.’
Police understand Britton escalated the depravity of his acts while Erin was away from home for work.
‘That’s the question I’ve been asking myself every day is, «Why did I not know? What did I miss?»,’ she said.
‘Scratching my head, trying to look, trying to play back events of the last few years to see if there’s any detail or anything, but there’s nothing.’
Britton was calculated in his offending, having sourced the dogs from online marketplace Gumtree under the guise of giving them a loving home.
Erin was away on a work trip when police raided their home on the outskirts of Darwin in August, 2022, leading to his arrest and guilty pleas for bestiality, animal cruelty and possessing child abuse material
Britton was calculated in his offending, having sourced the dogs from online marketplace Gumtree under the guise of giving them a loving home
He also never showed his face in the extensive videos and photos and used the usernames ‘Monster’ and ‘Cerberus’ – known as the three-headed hound of hell in Greek mythology.
‘He is a psychopath,’ Erin said.
‘He doesn’t have any consciousness of what is right or wrong, I feel like I’ve lost so much of my life and I feel like I’ve been completely duped.
‘I’m angry and I’m upset and there’s nothing I could have done, it’s very disturbing.’
The distraught ex-wife has instead used Britton’s horrific acts as motivation to ‘fight harder’ for animal rights.
‘There’s quite a sense of energy about me, of fury. I will do something with my life, and that’s fight for wildlife, fight for animals,’ she said.
‘(This) just does not represent who I am and I know that I’ll fight harder with every endeavour I do.
‘If there’s such darkness in the world, then there also has to be light, and I believe we have to fight for the good things.’
Daily Mail Australia earlier revealed details from a 42-page document from NT Chief Justice Michael Grant about Britton’s privileged childhood which was marred by his depraved sexual fantasies – such as sneaking into paddocks at the age of ten to hug horses and eat their hair.
Britton told court-appointed psychologists he was chronically depressed before he started making home movies of himself raping, torturing and murdering dogs at the age of 49.
Adam Britton (pictured with his ex-wife) was jailed for more than 10 years
He also falsely claimed similar twisted perverts online, where he posted on Telegram, threatened to expose him if he didn’t create the content they requested.
Britton also tried to tell psychologists that he exaggerated his offending for the benefit of his online friends.
But the judge ruled those arguments out. He said there was no evidence to suggest Britton was depressed – he did not tell anyone about it, he didn’t write it down, nor did he seek medical help.
The judge also said there was no evidence to suggest Britton was blackmailed by Telegram users.
He said it was evident from the fact that he described his torture videos in great detail to his online friends – while saying things like, ‘I just love hurting dogs’.
The sentencing remarks also outlined Britton’s lifelong struggle with the socio-sexual disorder, paraphelia and zoosadism.
Britton was never attracted to humans and struggled to have proper relationships with women when he was a university student in Hong Kong and the UK. He had two female partners, but they were not sexual relationships.
After graduation, the judge said he had a ‘brief’ sexual relationship with a woman who worked in the animal industry.
Britton also tendered to the court a short, hand-written apology detailing his struggles with paraphelia, for which he was too ashamed to seek help.
Pictured is the now abandoned compound where Britton carried out his obscene acts
The apology read: ‘I take full responsibility for the demeaning crimes I perpetrated on dogs. I deeply regret pain and trauma that I caused to innocent animals, and consequently to my family, friends and members of the community I affected.
‘I let you all down, and I’m truly sorry.
‘I now acknowledge that I’ve been fighting a rare paraphilic disorder for much of my life, and that shame and fear prevented me from seeking the proper help I needed.’
Britton said he was determined to seek long-term treatment to prove he was better than his horrific crimes, and to ‘find a path towards redemption’.
‘Please give my family the space they deserve to heal. They were not aware or involved in any way,’ he added.
Britton will never be allowed to own a pet again.
Adam Britton was sentenced to 10 years and five months in jail with a non-parole period of six years, backdated to his April 2022 arrest
