Emily Jenkins appeared for the prosecution in the sentencing of William Henry Welch, to what police described as one of the worst examples of cruelty they had ever seen. Welch was jailed for twenty weeks which has been hailed as a landmark sentence. Welch appeared before Harrogate Magistrates Court on charges of causing an animal fight to take place, keeping animals for fighting, and being present at an animal fight on three occasions in December 2017 and January 2018. The court heard expert evidence provided by the RSPCA about the condition of the cockerels and were shown video footage of the offences, described by investigators as sickening. Miss Jenkins, applying the Sentencing Guidelines on animal cruelty told the court of the deliberate attempts made to cause suffering to the birds and the resulting serious injury and high level of suffering inflicted upon them. Welch was sentenced to twenty weeks in prison, disqualified from keeping all animals for twenty years, and ordered to pay a total of 2,000 costs. Co-defendant William Chates also pleaded guilty to being present at an animal fight. He was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work and disqualified from keeping all animals for ten years, and ordered to pay 170 costs.