Bransgore man Kristen Cooper admits raft of animal cruelty charges

A BRANSGORE man will be sentenced by a judge after admitting causing unnecessary suffering to protected animals including hares and deer.

Kristen Cooper (23), of Whitelands at Thorney Hill, restrained a deer and struck it with a blunt instrument, and kept hares in the footwell of his car with other dead animals.

He failed to seek veterinary care for deer and for a hare that had been bitten by a dog.

The charges span from October 2020 to January 2022, Poole Magistrates' Court heard.

He has admitted damaging a police vehicle in Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, in December 2021 and deliberately driving into two vehicles in the town.

He also pleaded guilty to three charges of handling a stolen trailer at Barnsley Farm in Wimborne, and driving a vehicle without a licence or insurance.

The defendant also breached his bail condition by failing to reside at his property at all times.

The case has been committed to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentence, with Cooper released on conditional bail to appear there on 17th February.

Until then he is subject to a curfew prohibiting him from leaving his home address between 9pm and 6am.