A prominent British zoologist and crocodile expert Adam Britton has been jailed for more than 10 years after he admitted to sexually abusing dozens of dogs.

The 53-year-old leading zoologist was sentenced in Northern Territory supreme court after pleading guilty to 56 offences related to the torture and sexual exploitation of more than 42 dogs on his rural property. He also admitted to four counts of accessing child abuse material.

His abuse went unnoticed for years, until a clue was found in one of his videos. Britton was arrested in April 2022 after a search of his property, which also uncovered child abuse material on his laptop.

Sentencing Britton who had featured in animal documentaries on the BBC, Chief justice Michael Grant said he showed “grotesque” depravity in killing dozens of dogs.

“Your motivations were of the basest and most perverse kind … Each instance is an offence with the maximum penalty … I am unable to conceive of anything worse.”

Britton began his offending in 2014 and continued until his arrest in April 2022 after one of the videos of his offending, which he had shared online, was anonymously provided to Northern Territory animal welfare authorities.

Mr Britton’s lawyer argued his offending was driven by a rare disorder causing intense, atypical sexual interests.

 Animal advocates had earlier demonstrated outside court, holding signs labelling Britton a “zoosadist” who should face the death penalty.

The agreed facts stated Britton extensively filmed his offending and shared some of the videos to others online while encouraging them to commit similar offences and offering advice on how to do so.

“Your sheer and unalloyed pleasure is sickeningly evident from the recorded material,” Grant said.