A SEVERNSIDE MP and animal welfare campaigners have called for tougher sentences on those who ‘torture’ animals following a shocking case in the Forest.

Newport East MP Jessica Morden and the Gwent Badger Group have said the minimum jail term in cruelty cases should be increased from six months to five years.

In June two men from Gwent – including one from Caldicot in the Labour MP’s constituency – pleaded guilty to six joint offences under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, the Deer Act 1991 and the Animal Welfare Act 2006 involving cruelty to badgers, deer and boar.

The crimes involved extreme cruelty – including killing and maiming badgers – and both individuals were sentenced to between 20 to 22 weeks of immediate custody, given lifetime bans on keeping dogs and two-year driving bans.

The “sadistic” crimes were carried out in Clanna Wood near Alvington and around Coleford and Caldicot.

One horrific incident showed a baby badger being skinned alive by dogs as the two thugs laughed, and in another shocking scene, terriers were set on a wild boar before it was stabbed.

A judge described the actions as “medieval barbarity”.

Ms Morden said: “Those who have read the harrowing details of the recent abuse of badgers and other wildlife in Gwent and the Forest of Dean will have been appalled, both by the horrendous abuse and torture of innocent animals, and the leniency of the sentencing available to courts.

“We need to send out a strong signal that animal abuse – whether it involves domestic, farmed or wild animals – is unacceptable in civilised society.

“Consequently, we must ensure that tougher sentencing is available to bring the perpetrators of abuse, including badger baiters and those who contravene the ban on fox hunting, to justice.”

Steve Clark, a former chairman of the Gwent Badger Group, said: “The barbaric act of badger baiting does not happen as a result of simple ignorance or neglect, it is the premeditated intention to inflict torture on, and then kill, a wild animal for some perverse gratification.

“The consideration to increase the maximum sentencing to five years for this crime, as opposed to the present six months, will be a major step forward and hopefully act as a deterrent.”

Ms Morden added: “Labour’s Animal Welfare Plan, published last year, commits my party to enshrining the principle of animal sentience in law, covering all policy areas to prevent practices that expose animals to cruel and degrading treatment.

“It also contains a pledge to increase the maximum sentences for those convicted of animal cruelty.

“I wholeheartedly support these policies,” she added.