Latest news with #TheTortureKing
The Sun
14-06-2025
- The Sun
First picture of sicko Scots mum jailed for helping to run horrific global monkey torture network
A SADISTIC Scots mum jailed for helping to run a horrific global monkey torture network can today be unmasked. Natalie Herron, 39, and fellow sickos paid for thugs to inflict agonising deaths on baby macaques. 2 Neighbours told of their revulsion at learning how the mum, 39, shared sickening videos of tiny monkeys being crucified, dipped in boiling oil and hacked with machetes. We told how the monster, who also ran online votes on the animals' agonising death methods, was jailed for 27 months this week after admitting hoarding and sharing the harrowing footage. But a source in her home town of Airdrie told The Scottish Sun: 'Natalie can never show her face here again. It won't end well for her if she does. 'She has always been one for the watching. But nobody could have imagined she could do anything so twisted. It's all that anyone here is talking about. 'She's a marked woman for what she did to those poor babies.' We can also reveal fresh details of the disgusting messages Herron sent online to other sadists. She spoke with undisguised glee about seeing the defenceless creatures having their faces melted with a blowtorch, being chopped up in a food blender and even having their private parts cut off. The brute also said it was 'awesome' to watch a clip of a terrified macaque being wrapped up into a ball with cellotape. Herron was caught after US cops took down the group's ringleader Michael McCartney, 51 — who called himself 'The Torture King'. They paid for henchmen in Indonesia to steal young long-tailed macaques from their mothers then film their barbaric deaths. Inside monkey torture ring where fiends pay for animals to be put in blenders for sexual kicks Scots cops raided Herron's four-in-a-block flat in 2022 and found a phone with 1,084 pics and videos. Officers also found 4,000 warped WhatsApp messages she sent. In one, she moaned the screams of a dying monkey were 'making my ears bleed'. Another said: 'I am shocked how easily the drill went through the skull, it was like butter.' Herron discussed her preferences with other sickos, saying: 'Trying to find a video where they will kill the mum and the babies watch. 'Torch its whole face off until it's just skull and melting skin haha. 'Or watch them be blitzed in blenders and scalped, d**ks cut off, set alight. If only my family and friends knew they'd never look at me the same again lol.' The fiend also organised a poll on what the group wanted to see next. One suggested option was for a baby monkey to be sealed in a jar filled with biting fire ants. Herron later gleefully told the others: 'We finally got our ants in a jar. Phenomenal!'' Neighbours told of their disgust at the fiend, who they used to see walking a pet dog. At Herron's front door is an ornament of a squashed hedgehog with tyre tracks on its back. One local said: 'Natalie was a weirdo. She wouldn't give you the time of day if she saw you outside. Most just thought she was rude. 'But many are now glad they never got to know her. 'The shame should follow her forever. She's a vile pig.' A nearby shopkeeper claimed Herron's family will be distraught over the shocking revelations. He said: 'Her parents are lovely people. Her dad was a nice guy and her mum worked for the NHS. Natalie was always a pain. But I don't understand what she'd get from all this. Her poor parents will be so ashamed.' Our unmasking of Herron was backed by Sarah Kite, co-founder of Action for Primates. She said: 'Her depravity in paying for and watching the sadistic and gratuitous torture and killing of baby monkeys is horrifying. 'It is in the public interest for people to know who she is.'' Nina Jackel, of animal rights group Lady Freethinker, added: 'Those who participate in these crimes must be held accountable to help deter future offenders.' A BBC probe previously revealed the evil network. Last November Holly Le Gresley, 37, was caged for two years and Adriana Orme, 56, for 15 months in Worcester after they admitted causing unnecessary suffering to animals. Macartney was jailed for more than three years last October in Virginia, US.
BBC News
10-06-2025
- BBC News
Airdrie woman jailed for sharing baby monkey torture videos
A Scottish mother-of-two involved in a global monkey torture network has been jailed for more than two Herron, 39, from Airdrie in North Lanarkshire, joined online chat groups which encouraged torture of macaques by offenders based in Sheriff Court heard how she became a group administrator for the network, which was exposed by a BBC investigation, and shared hundreds of images and videos of the group paid for baby long-tailed macaques to be taken from their mothers in Indonesia before they were tortured and killed. WARNING: This article contains distressing details of animal acts of cruelty included crucifixion, machete attacks and one video that showed a baby monkey being dipped in boiling court heard how Herron had made contact online with Michael Macartney, the US-based ringleader of the network who used the alias "The Torture King". This is the first time someone has been sentenced in Scotland for cruelty that took place from the National Crime Agency alerted Police Scotland and a raid on Herron's home in 2022 discovered an iPhone with 1,084 images and videos of monkey discovered 4,000 messages on a WhatsApp group which had been sent by Herron discussing torture and hatred of the included one that said: "I am shocked how easily the drill went through the skull, it was like butter."Another message read: "Trying to find a video where they will kill the mum and the babies watch."Herron was sentenced to two years and three months in had earlier admitted two charges of possessing and distributing obscene material, namely videos depicting animal torture, between October 2021 and September 2022 at her home admitted a further charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear or alarm by sending messages to various online and social media groups which described and promoted animal court was told she made payments to Macartney but she claimed it was not for the videos but to "help him". Members of the online group, who claimed they were angered at the monkeys destroying land in Indonesia, voted on proposed methods of Matteo, defending, said: "In all the years I have been practising I have not seen a case like this. It has not been a pleasant experience."She [Herron] has had horrific problems in life and she built up a connection with other group members."She was trying to ingratiate herself with other members, it was a false sense of escapism."She is no longer the person that was responsible for sending those messages. She recognises the severity of it."Sentencing Herron, Sheriff Derek Livingston said: "The fact you not only joined these groups but then helped to facilitate them only helped to increase the animals' suffering."The BBC investigation uncovered the network that began life on YouTube before it moved to private groups on the messaging app 51, was jailed last year after pleading guilty in the US state of Virginia to conspiracy to create and distribute animal cruelty was sentenced to three years and four months in jail.A month later, Adriana Orme, 56, from Upton-upon-Severn, and Holly Le Gresley, 37, from Kidderminster, were jailed after admitting being part of the global network. 'Immense suffering' Police Scotland officers said it was one of the most horrific cases they had dealt with and the material was like nothing they had seen Sgt Karen Murray said: "This was a long and complex investigation which involved a number of organisations including the National Crime Agency (NCA) and the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU) and was the first of its kind in the UK."Thanks to the work of these organisations, Herron will now face the consequences of her actions which contributed to the cruel torture and immense suffering of a number of innocent animals."She added: "This was one of the most disturbing and graphic cases we have worked on and we hope this sentence shows that even though the cruelty took place abroad, that these types of crimes will not be tolerated and we will use all the tools at our disposal to hold people accountable."Det Insp Mark Harrison, from the National Wildlife Crime Unit, said: "This investigation is truly shocking and unsettling."The people involved are not just motivated by money, this is also about getting some sort of gratification from watching animals being tortured and then sharing those images with others."Procurator fiscal Faye Cook said: "The videos and images that Natalie Herron bought and shared online are horrendous."These animals were shown to be suffering extreme pain. This has been a distressing case for the prosecution team and police, but we have held Natalie Herron accountable."Individuals involved in the distribution of graphic and obscene online content depicting violent torture should be forewarned that this behaviour is not only repellent, but is against the law and will be prosecuted."Anyone who has any concerns around such behaviour is asked to contact Police Scotland.
