Graham Marshall and Paige Reaney: Sheffield couple to be sentenced over "gross" dog sex

Graham Marshall and Paige Reaney are to be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court.

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When details of their case were aired during a hearing there last Friday, the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Jeremy Richardson KC, described the defendants’ actions as ‘comprehensively gross’.

He told the pair: “In a professional life in law covering now 45 years, in my case I thought I had encountered most acts of depravity of one kind or another. I freely confess: this case is perhaps the worst case of its kind I have ever encountered.”

“It can only be described as grotesque sexual conduct. Indeed, by use of the word grotesque, it almost camouflages the horror of the acts.”

The couple acted out a ‘fantasy’ held by one of them to engage in sexual activity with their pet dog - a black pug named Charlie - over a number of years, subjecting him to habitual abuse.

Marshall, aged 39, was said to have encouraged and coerced Reaney into carrying out sexual acts with the dog as part of a ‘fantasy’ he held after watching a female having sex with a dog when he was younger and developing a ‘preoccupation’ with bestiality.

In addition to subjecting the animal to full sex on a number of occasions between August 2019 and December 2022, both Reaney and Marshall performed sex acts on the dog.

Reaney, of Bowman Drive, Gleadless, has pleaded guilty to having intercourse with a dog.

She has also admitted a further charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

Marshall, of no fixed abode, has pleaded guilty to one count of aiding and abetting a female person to have sexual intercourse with a dog.

He has also pleaded guilty to number of other charges, including one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and one count of failing to ensure the welfare of the dog.

Marshall has also admitted one count of voyeurism, three counts of possessing extreme pornographic images relating to sexual acts involving a ‘dead/alive animal, along with seven counts of making indecent photographs/pseudo-photographs of children of Categories A, B and C.

He has admitted to a further count of making indecent photographs of children of Category C.

Marshall was remanded into custody after Friday’s hearing, while Reaney was released on bail.