Marc Jones has now been ordered to pay back every penny he made from the illegal trade
An unlicensed dog breeder made £100,000 selling puppies online, a court has heard. Marc Jones ran the dog dealing business while working as a driver for a well-known food wholesaler.
Jones has now been ordered to pay back every penny he made from the illegal trade and been handed a conditional discharge. His barrister said the defendant wished to apologise to the court. Swansea Crown Court heard Jones was breeding puppies and selling them through a number of websites and online marketplaces including Gumtree and Pets4Homes.
Lee Reynolds, prosecuting, said the defendant used a number of different email addresses on the adverts and “there was a level of deviousness” to the offending, though he noted all the adverts linked back to the same mobile number and home address.
The court heard Jones bred and sold puppies of various breeds including West Highland Terriers, Boston Terriers, and Scottish Terriers. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter here
The prosecutor said the defendant was sent paperwork by the local authority in 2021 as part of the licensing process but it had not been returned, though he said Jones denies ever having received the documents.
He said the case was not one involving animal welfare issues but involved Jones’ lack of a licence, and he said under Welsh legislation anyone with three or more breeding bitches and selling more than three litters a year needs to be licensed.
Marc Jones, aged 40, of Golwg yr Ogof, Pencader, Carmarthenshire, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of carrying on the activity of dog breeding without the authority of a licence, and one count of carrying on the activity of selling animals as pets in the course of a business without a licence when he appeared in the dock for a sentencing and proceeds of crime hearing.
He has no previous convictions.
The court heard it was agreed that Jones had benefited from his criminal conduct to the tune of £100,000 between October 2020 and May 2022.
Matt Murphy, for Jones, said the defendant was an “industrious individual” who, at the time of the offending and currently, works as a delivery driver for Castell Howell based in Cross Hands.
He said there was a reference before the court on behalf of the defendant from the Archdeacon of Cardigan, Eileen Davies, and he said Jones wished to apologise to the court.
Addressing Jones in Welsh, Judge Huw Rees made him subject of a 12-month conditional discharge and he issued a confiscation order under Proceeds of Crime Act powers in the sum of £100,000.
Jones has three months to pay the money with 12 months in prison in default.