Key facts
- Bartosz Poklek has been jailed for three years and three months for his role in an international monkey torture network.
- The network distributed videos of tortured and killed monkeys for hundreds of pounds.
- Poklek scripted how the animals should be harmed and killed.
- The 30-year-old from Bexley, south-east London, admitted to running the network between June 2023 and September 2025.
- The judge described the case as one of the most horrific animal abuse cases encountered.
- The current maximum sentence for animal cruelty is five years.
Bartosz Poklek, the ringleader of an international network dedicated to torturing and killing monkeys for entertainment, has been sentenced to three years and three months in prison. The 30-year-old from Bexley, south-east London, admitted to running the network between June 2023 and September 2025.
During his sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court, Judge Christopher Grout described the case as one of the most horrific instances of animal abuse he had encountered, noting a "vile underground community" that derives pleasure from such acts. Poklek distributed "horrific" videos that sold for hundreds of pounds and wrote scripts detailing how the animals should be harmed and killed.
The judge commented that the current five-year maximum sentence for animal cruelty is too low, stating, "If ever there was a case that demonstrates that the statutory maximum for animal cruelty is too low, this is it." Poklek is eligible for release after serving approximately one-third of his sentence under the Sentencing Act 2026.
The investigation involved multiple UK police forces, including the National Wildlife Crime Unit, the Metropolitan Police, and West Mercia Police, alongside US agencies such as Homeland Security Investigations and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Poklek was apprehended after attempting to obtain court documents related to a monkey torture case in the United States.