Damion Ogeare was identified after his DNA was found on the shetland pony who was assaulted in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, with CCTV capturing the man entering the pony’s stable
A man has admitted having sex with a horse after he was identified when a vet found his DNA inside the animal.
Damion Ogeare was spotted on CCTV by the animal’s owner who saw him entering the Shetland Pony’s stable in Wiltshire. He pleaded guilty to penetrating a living animal and trespassing with intent to commit a sexual offence.
The incident happened on land in Hilperton, near Trowbridge, Wiltshire on 24 January 2024, Salisbury Crown Court was told. Police attended the scene after the owner of a Shetland pony reported seeing a man enter a stable on her CCTV system.
Officers searched the area but couldn’t find the suspect. The 43-year-old defendant, of Trowbridge, was later identified through DNA. Ogeare will be sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court in May. He was released on bail for a pre-sentence report to be compiled.
It comes after another man, Stephen Edward Griffiths, 62, of Llansteffan, was banned from keeping equines for 10 years after one Shetland pony was found dead and another in a horrific condition. His neglect of the animals came to light after the RSPCA were called out to the land in Llansteffan, with inspector Keith Hogben visiting the site in June last year.
When he got there, he found one pony lying dead on the ground and another in shocking condition with a “skin issue” and in “thin body condition with its spine and ribs easily visible”. The pony that was still alive had been tethered by a chain from its head collar to a tree with a nearby bucket of water having been left by a concerned member of the public who ended up calling the RSPCA.
Stephen Edward Griffiths, 62, of Old School Road, in Llansteffan, said the pony had been left to lie there for a couple of days as his broken down tractor was unable to move the body. Griffiths added the RSPCA that he had only had the ponies “for a couple of months” and had in fact rescued on from the Cross Hands area.
Both ponies were given body scores of 0.5 out of 5 by an equine vet, who said in a witness statement that the living pony was “in very poor body condition”. That pony has since been treated and rehomed. Griffiths was sentenced at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court on February 13 having pleaded guilty to two offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
He admitted to having caused unnecessary suffering to a male Shetland pony by failing to adequately investigate and address the cause of his poor body condition. He went on to also admit that he failed to ensure the needs of animals – a female grey Shetland pony and a male skewbald Shetland pony – were met that included need for a suitable environment, adequate diet and failing to address their poor body conditions, rain scald and lice infestation.
Griffiths has been disqualified from keeping equines for 10 years and handed concurrent 16-week prison sentences for each of the two offences, which will be suspended for two years. He was also handed a one year community order and told he must complete a 15-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. He was then ordered to pay costs of £250. In mitigation, the court was also told that Griffiths was genuinely remorseful.
