Former British boxers Billy Joe Saunders, Richard Towers and Stefy Bull were this week sentenced for separate crimes.
The 36-year-old Saunders, the former two-weight WBO champion whose lone loss came in 2021 to Canelo Alvarez in what increasingly looks like his last fight, was one of four men who drove hundreds of miles to Lincolnshire, England, to use their dogs for the purpose of killing hares on farmland. They were convicted last October when the sight dogs were found in their possession alongside videos of the crime on Saunders’ phone.
Further searches uncovered a catapult and ball bearings, and a locking knife under the seat of the vehicle in which they had travelled.
Saunders, who is no stranger to antisocial behavior, was sentenced alongside the other perpetrators at Lincoln Magistrates Court to depravation orders for the dogs, the silver Mercedes car, and hare coursing equipment. Each was ordered to pay £3,375 compensation for kennel and welfare fees.
Towers, a former heavyweight who compiled a 15-1 (12 KOs) record between 2009 and 2014, was sentenced to three years and three months in prison after pleading guilty at Sheffield Crown Court to coercive and controlling behavior.
His ex-girlfriend told the court that Towers, whose real name is Richard Hayles, had left her in debt and subjected her to years of emotional abuse. “You controlled every aspect of my life,” she said, “even the tiniest things, and made me believe that’s how a woman should be.”
The relationship ended when Towers left with considerable debt which resulted in his partner losing the home in Rotherham, England. In evidence obtained by the police, the woman was forced to communicate with her child using a “secret code” during the period of abuse. The court also heard that Towers would lecture her on how he expected her to behave, force her to watch misogynistic videos and left her fearing for her life “on numerous occasions”.
Addressing Towers in court she said, “I do wonder if you feel any remorse for what you have done. Only a monster would show up and pretend to love someone and then destroy them in the background.”
The 46-year-old, who committed the offence during a suspended sentence for a firearms offence, was convicted for his involvement in the kidnap and torture of a man for a £150,000 ransom in 2001, will also be subject to a 10-year restraining order.
Bull, best known for his considerable work as a trainer with the likes of Terri Harper and Jamie McDonnell, was jailed for 10 years for his part in a conspiracy to supply cocaine.
The former boxer denied the charge against him but subsequently admitted his guilt.
Judge Hampton said in court: “The reality is you chanced your arm at trial, just as you chanced your arm at offending… You seek to blame your offending upon your financial circumstances at the time of the coronavirus lockdown period. I’m afraid, in my judgement, that’s scant mitigation.”
The 48-year-old Bull, whose real name is Andrew Bulcroft, worked alongside another man to purchase the drugs wholesale before supplying them to be sold in South Yorkshire. The pair believed their involvement would go undetected because they used an encrypted phone network, Encrochat, to communicate.
He is expected to serve up to 40 per cent of the 10-year sentence behind bars.
