Monkey head seller who also had animal porn avoids jail

A man who sold four monkey heads online and possessed extreme images of bestiality has avoided jail. George Bush, 63, of Erith, south east London, pleaded guilty at Woolwich Crown Court to four counts of offering to sell parts of endangered species including two leopard skulls, 134 primates, four monkey heads and skeleton of a baby crab-eating macaque.



Bush also pleaded guilty to possession of 71 extreme pornographic images showing bestiality. He was sentenced to 14 months' imprisonment suspended for two years at the same court on Monday. Following information received from the UK Border Force, Bush was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's Wildlife Crime Unit and Bexley Borough on January 24 2014 on suspicion of selling illegally imported protected species on eBay.




Detective Constable Sarah Bailey, of the Met's Wildlife Crime Unit, said: "This case shows that strong controls are in place to protect endangered species and the police will take action against anyone found to be trading illegally. Illegal trade threatens many species' survival. I would urge anyone who sees specimens from protected wildlife for sale to contact police. We are committed to ensuring that anyone in London who is trading illegally in endangered animal parts is stopped."



Grant Miller, Border Force CITES lead, added: "As the variety of species involved in this case shows, the illegal movement of endangered wildlife is part of an illicit and often cruel trade that Border Force, together with our partners in the UK and internationally, is determined to stop. Those illegally trading in wildlife products should be in no doubt – we will target you at the UK border and beyond." The Wildlife Crime Unit was also able to identify the illegal supplier of the endangered species in Indonesia and this individual was dealt with by the East Java police. A confiscation hearing has been scheduled for April.