11 June 2024 , 11:04
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A woman accused of uploading 26 videos of monkeys being tortured and sharing them online with a worldwide chat group has appeared in court.
Adriana Orme, 55, is charged with publishing obscene videos of monkeys being tortured and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The Dutch woman from Upton-upon-Severn Worcestershire is also said to have encouraged or assisted the commission of unnecessary suffering by making a £10 payment to a PayPal account on April 26, 2022. Today she appeared at Worcester Crown Court but the case was adjourned so a Dutch interpreter could be provided for her.
Holly LeGresley, 37, from Kidderminster, arriving at Worcester Magistrates Court (Joseph Walshe / SWNS)Orme, from Upton-upon-Severn, Worcs., spoke only to confirm her name following the 10-minute hearing and was granted conditional bail. She will appear before the same court on June 19.
Adjourning the case, Judge James Burbidge said: "Miss Orme would you stand up, please. I'm working on the basis that you do understand me.
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"Your barrister has asked, given the significance of the matters alleged against you, that you be assisted by an interpreter in your first language, which is Dutch, and I have acceded to that request. I hope it can be arranged that you can have a conference with him and your solicitor with the assistance of a Dutch interpreter before you come back to court on the 19th of June before me. You're subject to conditional bail as I understand it and those conditions will prevail until you come back on the 19th.
"Let me tell you this, the law permits a judge to discount the sentence if a person pleads guilty at a early stage. A person denies guilt and is convicted by a jury, they suffer greater punishment."
At a previous magistrates court hearing it was said that at least 20 people were placed under investigation globally last year, after BBC undercover investigation, although details were not given in court. The investigation exposed a global monkey torture network involving a private online group paying people in Indonesia to kill and torture baby monkeys on video.
At the hearing in May, Orme appeared alongside Holly LeGresley who admitted her part in the group. The 37-year-old woman, from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, pleaded guilty to uploading 22 images and 132 videos of monkeys being tortured. She was told she would be sentenced at the crown court at a later date.
The monkeys were tortured and killed (bbc)Prosecutor Angla Hallan asked for the case to be moved to a higher court for sentencing. The court was told the women had “not carried out monkey torture themselves”.
Ms Hallan told magistrates' court both women had been charged after being identified as having been part of online chat groups after the BBC had been involved in “exposing the trade”. LeGresley was told that “all options” would be available at her sentencing hearing after she pleaded guilty to separate charges of publishing obscene articles and intentionally encouraging animal cruelty.
LeGresley admitted uploading images of monkey torture between March 25 and May 8, 2022, and made a payment of £17.24 to a PayPal account to encourage cruelty on April 25 of the same year.