Woman who decapitated snakes before swallowing their heads avoids jail

Warning: contains graphic image
In court: Jennifer Lampe, 28, avoided jail after beheading her pet snakes
Joe Giddens/PA Wire
Hannah Al-Othman19 August 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A woman who drunkenly decapitated her two snakes with scissors before swallowing their heads has escaped jail.

Jennifer Lampe, 28, was discovered by police with the still-moving but headless body of her boa constrictor draped around her neck and both reptiles' severed heads in her trouser pockets.

She had "vomited up" the heads after swallowing them, telling animal inspectors she had "wanted to keep them".

On Thursday she was given a four-month jail term suspended for two years in what magistrates called an "unpleasant, not to say bizarre, incident" of animal cruelty.

She was also banned from keeping animals for five years.

Telford Magistrates' Court in Shropshire was also told how weeks before the decapitations she threw her pet hamster into a fish tank and watched it drown after it made too much noise in the night.

RSPCA prosecutor Roger Price told court she then "put the dead hamster in a chest freezer" but its contents were later emptied.

On another occasion she admitted putting an unwanted cat in a carrier bag, taking it on a "long bus ride" and then releasing the animal.

She had twice tried to rid herself of the cat, having successfully disposed of a second cat, which she "dumped behind a fence".

The pair of scissors used to behead the snakes
RSPCA

Mr Price said Lampe killed the two-metre boa constrictor and a smaller ball python on April 8 because she feared she was set to be made homeless and would be unable to look after them.

Lampe, of Market Drayton, had already pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the snakes "by doing an act, namely cutting their heads off" contrary to the 2006 Animal Welfare Act.

Mr Price told the court she committed the offence at her sister's house in Church Stretton, Shropshire after drinking seven cans of lager and shots of amaretto and whisky.

He said the defendant had been living with her sister since May last year but killed the snakes because she feared she was no longer welcome, and did not think her sibling would take proper care of the pets.

Mr Price added that Lampe's dislike of her sister's boyfriend had caused friction which "came to a head" on the day of the incident.

Headless: The snake was still moving when police arrived
RSPCA

Her sister, who was in court to support Lampe, called police.

A vet confirmed the snakes had probably been decapitated with scissors but concluded "the death of the snakes was not swift", with signs of several attempts to cut through the animals' necks.

Mr Price said the vet had also found the snakes' "suffering was prolonged and painful" and remarked that reptiles' heads "can remain operable up to an hour after decapitation", meaning they could have been aware as Lampe swallowed them.

In interview, she told the RSPCA investigator "the small head (of the ball python) went down easily" but she had trouble with the larger boa constrictor.

Sarah Cooper, representing Lampe, said her client was a vulnerable "loner" who had "some mental health problems", a drink problem and was currently taking anti-depressants.

Chairman of the bench Sue Tyrrell, sentencing, said that despite the "seriousness" of the offence, magistrates would suspend the sentence.

"You will address the many issues you have which led to this offence and hopefully prevent you offending again," she added.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in