He tried to hug his mum as he was jailed for his ‘repellent’ crime

“Peter Stanley presumably thought he was going to get away with this. How wrong he was.”

A man sent to prison for sharing videos of baby monkeys being tortured in a sickening private Facebook group is the first prosecution of its kind in the north west. The case, as bizarre as it is horrific, did not even have a sentencing guideline for the separate counsels and presiding judge to consider.

Peter Stanley, 42, was part of a sickening private Facebook group called ‘Monkey Sauce’ where members were encouraged to view and post their own disturbing videos. Christopher Taylor, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court yesterday morning, Wednesday, September 25 that Stanley posted three videos of baby macaque monkeys being abused between April 3 and June 24 last year.

The court heard the videos, which varied between seven and 15 minutes in length, showed the baby monkeys being horrifically tortured by people believed to be in either Thailand or Indonesia. The extreme videos included monkeys being nailed to a tree, mutilated and tortured with instruments including pliers, a hatchet and a machete. The ECHO has chosen to not repeat too much of the detail of the videos heard in court.

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The court heard the defendant also commented on the videos he shared. On one he said “now do as you are told”, while on another he said “a fav of mine this one”. On his third video he commented “this rat has nailed it”.

Mr Taylor and defence counsel Charles Lander told the court that there were no guidelines in which to refer to because the case was the first of its kind to be sentenced in the North West. Mr Taylor referenced a case heard at Worcester Crown Court where two women, Adriana Orme and Holly Le Gresley, will be sentenced next month for their own involvement in being part of a group that paid for baby monkeys to be taken from their mothers, then tortured and killed for pleasure.

The court heard Le Gresley admitted uploading 22 images and 132 videos. Both were exposed by a BBC investigation called ‘The Monkey Haters’ which uncovered the existence of streaming videos containing the torture of baby monkeys. Videos, primarily filmed in South-East Asia, and posted online showed the “disciplining” and tormenting of captive infant monkeys and the deliberate infliction of pain and fear, causing physical harm as well as emotional distress.

Investigations into the posting of these videos led officers to identify individuals across the UK and criminal investigations carried out by other police forces. Stanley’s involvement in the sickening behaviour was exposed after Sarah Kite – founder of group Action for Primates and a former mental health nurse – passed information to the police regarding his behaviour because a volunteer inside the group saw what he was posting.

Mr Taylor told the court: “While the internet can be a force for good it can also be used for the worst of humanity. This is such a case.” Stanley was arrested after a warrant was carried out at his home address on March 26. His mobile phone, which was seized by police, showed online searches including “how to tell if a baby monkey is distressed” and bestiality pornography involving horses.

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During his police interview he told officers he had begun by watching videos of monkeys in the wild and questioned how bad they could be hurt. He viewed about 70 videos in the private Facebook group between June 23 and October 23. He said he stopped after watching an extremely bad video.

Mr Taylor said the custodial threshold had been passed because of the extreme pain and suffering depicted in the material. He added: “Without defendants like this the trade would not continue.”

The defendant, of Dovecot Avenue, Dovecot, appeared before Liverpool Magistrates’ Court last month where he was pleaded guilty to three counts of publishing an obscene article showing animal torture. During extensive mitigation outlined by defence counsel Mr Lander yesterday morning, it was said the defendant, who had previously worked at a well-known solicitors’ firm, was previously “full of integrity” but now was full of remorse and regret.

Speaking of his client, who has since not only lost his job but his relationship, the defence barrister added: “I do not seek to minimise his behaviour. The descriptions speak for themselves. He told police he didn’t know why he got into this…This isn’t someone who carried on offending until his arrest, he stopped months before.”

Mr Lander added: “He did what he accepts is a stupid thing for a few weeks when he was part of the group. He stopped when he realised the error of his ways. He never thought he would get the fateful knock on the door.”

Sentencing, His Honour Judge Ian Harris told the defendant: “These offences are utterly repellent and have no place in a civilised society. You were a volunteer, not a conscript.” The judge told the defendant that an immediate custodial sentence was “unavoidable” and sentenced him to 20 months’ imprisonment.

Judge Harris also issued destruction of his mobile phone and the statutory surcharge. The defendant, wearing a black suit and sporting short black hair and glasses, attempted to hug his mum as he was led from the dock.

Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Kite said: “We are very grateful to Merseyside Police for taking this action against the posting of monkey torture videos on Facebook. Those individuals involved in distributing graphic and obscene content depicting the violent and sadistic torture and killing of baby monkeys need to know that their behaviour is not only vile, but is also a crime.

“We sincerely hope this prosecution and punishment will act as an important deterrent to others. We also hope that this prosecution will be a wake up call to Meta and other social media companies that continue to allow this highly disturbing and graphic content to be posted on their platforms.”

Thomas Quirk, senior crown prosecutor of Mersey-Cheshire Crown Prosecution Service, said: “The videos that Peter Stanley posted onto his page on the Facebook site are truly horrific. The torture imposed on these animals included sexual torture and it has been a distressing case for both the police and the prosecution team to deal with.

“Why anyone could possibly want to be involved in this sort of thing is impossible to understand. Peter Stanley was publishing videos of animals being brutally injured apparently for pleasure. His actions are against the law, and he is now facing the consequences.

“The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank the witnesses in this case and Merseyside Police for their help in bringing this dreadful case to a successful conclusion. Behind each of these images there were defenceless animals being abused. Peter Stanley presumably thought he was going to get away with this. How wrong he was.”