Two men sentenced for killing sheep on South Downs

Two men who admitted killing a sheep on the South Downs in 2023 have been given custodial sentences.

Leighton Ashby, 22, a British national of Beckett Road in Ashford, Kent, and Oakley Hollands, 20, a British national of Mussenden Lane in Horton Kirby, Kent, drove up to a field near Ditchling Beacon on the evening of Thursday, 2 November, 2023, and began chasing sheep.

The pair caught one sheep and violently assaulted it, using explosive ‘bangers’ to cause catastrophic injuries to the animal.

Footage of Ashby carrying out the attack was found on Hollands’ phone, as well as videos of an unidentified person attacking both live and deceased animals.

The sheep’s ear tags were also found in a property nearby, understood to have been taken from the scene by Ashby.

The attack was reported to Sussex Police on 6 November, 2023.

Both men were swiftly arrested on 8 November, 2023, and subsequently charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

At Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, 7 August, 2025, both men pleaded guilty.

At Lewes Crown Court on Monday (23 February), Ashby was jailed for two years. Hollands was sentenced to 20 months in a young offenders’ institute.

Superintendent Rachel Swinney said: “This was a disturbing incident that has been treated with the seriousness it deserved.

“Both of these men have now faced justice for their crimes, which should send a clear message that we will protect our rural communities and hold offenders to account.”