Woman admits role in monkey torture network

The monkey torture community began life on YouTube before moving to encrypted messaging apps

A British woman has pleaded guilty to being part of a global monkey torture network.

Holly LeGresley, 37, from Kidderminster, was a participant in a private online group that was paying people in Indonesia to kill and torture baby monkeys on video.

The convictions follow a year-long investigation by the BBC Eye team.

They went undercover in the groups to expose the existence of the sadistic global network.

Warning - this story contains distressing content

LeGresley pleaded guilty at Worcester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday to charges of consuming, causing and facilitating the torture of baby monkeys over the internet.

She was part of a group on the messaging app Telegram that brainstormed, crowdfunded and then commissioned videos of monkeys being tortured by people in Indonesia.

The group was used to share ideas for custom-made torture videos such as setting live monkeys on fire, injuring them with tools and even putting one in a blender.

The ideas were then sent, along with payments, to video-makers in Indonesia who carried them out, sometimes killing the baby long-tailed macaque monkeys in the process.

Under the username "The Immolator" LeGresley once ran a poll for members of the group on which method of torture should be inflected upon an infant monkey.

LeGresley will be sentenced in crown court on 7 June.

BBC Eye identified her as a participant in a group run by a US man called Mike Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who served time in prison and went by the screen name "Torture King".

Image source, Joel Gunter/BBC

"The Torture King" Mike Macartney at home in Virginia

LeGresley, who at the time was living with her parents in the Midlands, was among the most active participants in the group and was made a group moderator by Macartney.

She would often message privately with Macartney, a former motorcycle gang member who previously spent time in prison before creating one of the most prolific monkey torture groups.

Macartney pleaded guilty this month to animal abuse charges in the US and was facing up to five years in prison.

Kevin Lacks-Kelly, the head of the UK National Wildlife Crime Unit, said LeGresley played a key and active role in the global torture network.

He said she was much more than a spectator, that she raised funds, archived videos to share between groups and acted as an admin in the groups welcoming new members.

"I've been investigating wild crime for 22 years and it sickens me to say that this is unequivocally the worst case I have ever investigated or overseen," he said.

Adriana Orme chose not to enter a plea at Worcester Magistrates' Court on Tuesday

Another woman, Adriana Orme, 55, from Upton-upon-Severn, also appeared at the magistrates' court on Tuesday in connection with the network.

She chose not to enter a plea at this stage to charges of publishing an obscene article and for causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

Her next appearance in court will be 5 June.