UNITED KINGDOM -- A sexual deviant has been found guilty of having sex with a horse as it emerged he tried to kill a girl who caught him [trying to rape her pony] more than 25 years ago.
Julian Mark Ridgeway, 53, described as a ‘dangerous sexual deviant’, had attempted to murder the 16-year-old girl in 1990 after she caught him about to attack [and rap] her pony.
Ridgeway served an eight-year prison sentence following the incident in which he tried to choke the teenager so “she would not live to tell the tale.”
This week, Leeds Crown Court, West Yorks, heard Ridgeway was at it again a quarter-of-a-century later after leading a horse into a pig pen before being disturbed by farmers.
The mare named Honey was later examined by a vet at the farm in Wakefield, West Yorks., and DNA was recovered from inside the animal which matched to Ridgeway.
Recorder Paul Greaney, QC, told Ridgeway, who will be sentenced next year: “A man with your level of deviance clearly needs help.”
The horse’s owner Louise Lumley had hidden in her barn and kept watch over her 13-year-old mare who said she had been acting strange.
She then spotted Ridgeway leading the horse into the pen before challenging him with her husband – but he ran off and denied being the suspect.
However, Ridgeway, of Netherton, West Yorks., was later arrested in May of this year after the DNA evidence was recovered from the animal.
Ridgeway denied having a “long-term sexual fascination” with horses during the trial -following the incident which happened between April 28 and May 10, 2016.
He admitted touching the horse – but said his behavior was not sexual and claimed the DNA must have come from his clothing during the ‘touching’.
Ridgeway was found guilty of intercourse with an animal and trespass with intent to commit a sexual offence by a jury during trial.
Following the outcome, West Yorkshire Police Detective Constable Donna Moss, said: “Credit must go to the horse’s owner for making her own investigations and doing what she did knowing about Ridgeway’s past.
“The jury made the right decision based on the evidence they were presented with to make sure this persistent dangerous offender is put behind bars.”
Jurors were only told of Ridgeway’s previous conviction today after taking less than an hour to reach unanimous verdicts.
A court report from March 1991 stated Ridgeway was taken from the dock at Leeds Crown Court protesting: “I have never had sex with a horse.”
That jury took less than half an hour to reach their verdict finding Ridgeway, then 28, guilty of attempted murder on July 3, 1990.
The prosecution claimed he had twice chocked her unconscious to silence her after she had found him in a “compromising situation” with her mare Ripple.
At the time, Mr Justice Jowett said: “You [Ridgeway] were about to behave in a disgusting manner with her pony and when she surprised you, you quite plainly decided she should not live to tell the tale.
“You dragged and lifted her body to a place where you hoped to conceal it.
“When you saw her begin to revive, that should have brought you to your senses; it did not – you then tried a second time to kill her.”
“It is quite clear to me, but for the fortunate appearance of her mother on the scene, you would have kept the pressure on her throat and made no mistake about it the second time, and she would have died.”
The victim had described to the jury how she had gone to her field in Wakefield, West Yorks., to look for her pony and found Ridgeway half naked.
He had no trousers or underpants on and appeared to be washing the backside of her pony from a bucket.
Ridgeway denied that he had been interfering with her horse that day and said he was not responsible for attacking the teenager.
Ridgeway’s home was also searched by police in 2011 and a videocassette was found of a man having sex with a horse.
Ridgeway was remanded in custody until February 3 to allow for a psychiatric report to be constructed before sentencing.
(The Sun - Dec 23, 2016)
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