Two Agriculture Students Beat Sheep For 30 Minutes Then Blew It Up With Fireworks

Two former agricultural students from Plumpton College in East Sussex have been jailed for a ‘sadistic’ and ‘barbaric’ 30-minute attack on a sheep, in which they beat the animal up for 30 minutes and then blew it up with fireworks.

Leighton Ashby, 22, and Oakley Hollands, 20, chased and caught the young sheep near Ditchling Beacon – the highest point in East Sussex. They filmed themselves punching and kicking the animal to death, at one point smashing its head against a wooden fence post.

After the animal had died, the pair inserted fireworks into its mouth and anus and detonated them, mutilating the carcass.

The duo kept the sheep’s ear tag as a trophy, hiding it in a Monster energy drink can in their college toilets. Two other students they had invited to witness the act – under the guise of seeing a “dead badger” – reported them to police after being left horrified by what they saw.

This week, Hove Crown Court sentenced Ashby to two years in prison and Hollands to 20 months in a young offender institution. Both were banned from owning animals for 10 years.

Predictably, lawyers for the defendants cited neurodivergent diagnoses (autism and ADHD) and a ‘lack of maturity’ as mitigating factors. The judge noted their farming backgrounds made the behavior particularly ‘alarming’.

It’s worth noting that two other videos were found on Hollands’ phone, including a dead fox being cut in half and a badger being kicked. 20 months in a youth offender institution after he also beat a sheep to death? This lad is going to kill someone one day.

It’s also crazy that they’ve been banned from owning animals for 10 years. Surely annihilating a sheep in that manner warrants a lifetime? Furthermore, are these two psychos really going to be allowed to work in agriculture when they’re out?

I’m not sure if there’s a register for people who commit these sorts of crimes against animals, but there probably should be. I’m pretty sure most serial killers start on animals before moving on to humans. Here’s hoping they get the help and therapy they need to ensure that does not happen.

For unreal footage of a black bear attacking a climber in Japan, click HERE.