Woman admits abusing pet marmoset she offered cocaine to and flushed down toilet

Warning: this article includes graphic images some readers may find disturbing.

A woman has pleaded guilty to abusing her pet marmoset, including offering cocaine to the primate and attempting to flush it down the toilet.

A court heard how Vicki Holland was aggressive towards the primate, which is native to tropical forests in Central and South America. The monkey’s treatment was shown to the RSPCA after videos were discovered on Holland’s phone by Gwent police after a drug raid at her home.

One clip showed her hand holding cocaine while the monkey cowered in the corner of her home in Newport, south Wales. She is heard saying to the monkey: “Want some coke ? lick my fingers.”

Tory MPs warn Johnson he is running out of friends after Frost quits

---

Liz Truss to lead UK Brexit negotiations after Frost quits

---

Biden’s domestic plan suffers huge blow as Manchin says he will reject spending Bill

---

Sixth child dies from Australian bouncy castle tragedy

---

Another video showed the mother-of-four laughing as she attempted to flush the marmoset down the toilet as it clung to the rim. Holland, 38, could be heard on the video saying, “I need the toilet” and “shall I flush it?”

The toilet was then flushed and she called the animal a “fucking twat” and told it “don’t attack me”. The court heard that her phone had 22 “very disturbing” videos involving the marmoset, who was fed “inappropriate food” including kebabs, burgers and sausages.

Video on Vicki Holland’s phone showed the pet marmoset in the toilet bowl as it is being flushed.Holland was banned from keeping all animals for life after pleading guilty to three Animal Welfare Act offences and was given a 12-week jail term, suspended for 12 months. She must also pay £420 in costs and a £128 victim surcharge.

Prosecutor Aled Watkins said the marmosets have a “very particular set of needs”, however, its cage was “devoid of decor needed for environmental enrichment”.

Scott Bowen, defending, said his client was “deeply embarrassed and deeply ashamed of her behaviour”. “In hindsight, Ms Holland fully accepts she shouldn’t have had the animal in the first place,” he told the court.

Bowen said the monkey had experienced “distress” but there was “no long-term damage” to the animal, which was handed over to the RSPCA during the investigation.

Magistrates in Newport heard Holland informed the RSPCA that she had sold the marmoset a week earlier. It is now living at the Monkey World rescue centre near Wool, Dorset.

After the sentencing, RSPCA inspector and exotics officer Sophie Daniels said: “I was immediately and gravely concerned about the welfare of this marmoset when I saw these disturbing videos. Videos from the defendant’s phone showed Holland offering the marmoset cocaine, while another showed the clearly terrified marmoset down a toilet bowl.

“Holland was shouting, swearing, laughing and at one point in the clip, the toilet is flushed, showing the petrified animal struggling to cling on to the side of the bowl. An independent vet soon confirmed that the marmoset was suffering unnecessarily as a result of the way she had been treated.”

Holland previously appeared in court in May where she was ordered to pay more than GBP4,000 over a hidden cocaine haul found in Kinder chocolate eggs.

Holland and her partner, Russell Cox, 43, both admitted possession with intent to supply a class A drug at Newport crown court.

Cox, from Cwmbran, south Wales, was jailed for 30 months and Holland was jailed for 20 months, suspended for two years in November last year.

A proceeds of crime hearing was told the couple made almost £40,000 from their cocaine business. Cox made £31,904.46 from drug dealing but was left with just £180 that could be seized in available assets.

Holland was ordered to pay back £4,018.82 in assets or face three months behind bars.

— Guardian News and Media 2021