A prominent British crocodile expert has been jailed for 10 years and five months for raping, torturing and killing dozens of dogs.

Adam Britton, a zoologist based in Darwin, Australia, pleaded guilty to 56 charges of bestiality and animal cruelty at the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory (NT) in September last year.

He also pleaded guilty to four counts of accessing and transmitting child abuse material.

Britton, 52, whose sentencing suffered a series of delays, was on Thursday also banned for life from purchasing animals and having them on his property, Australian media reports.

His offending involved the torture and exploitation of 42 dogs, and the deaths of 39, in a shipping container on his property – which he used to film many of his crimes.

Britton will not be eligible for parole for six years, according to ABC.

Chief Justice Michael Grant described Britton’s “grotesque” and “unspeakable” crimes against animals as he sentenced him.

The judge excused court officers during his sentencing remarks, as he warned the gallery that details of the offences could cause a “nervous shock or some other adverse psychological reactions”.

He said: “Although I’m loathe to do so, given the gross depravity and perversity of your actions, it is necessary for the purpose of sentencing you to provide some generally representative detail and description of the offending conduct.”

The court previously heard Britton had a “sadistic sexual interest” in animals, and in particular dogs.

As well as torturing his own dogs, he also sourced animals from unsuspecting pet owners in the Darwin region.

“He often built a rapport with the dog owners in negotiating taking custody of their animals, many of whom had to reluctantly give their pets away due to travel or work commitments,” prosecutor Marty Aust told the court back in September.

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Britton was a senior researcher at Charles Darwin University and also worked on BBC and National Geographic productions.

He once hosted Sir David Attenborough while the veteran broadcaster filmed part of a docuseries on his property.

Justice Grant told Britton during his sentencing: “Your conduct on each of those occasions involved a degree of depravity and reprehensibility which falls entirely outside any ordinary human conception and comprehension.”

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