article_snippet.sent: Darren Wheatcroft pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange a fight between illegal pit bull terrier-type dogs, while Darren Wheatcroft son, Callan, and farmer Simon Whitworth pleaded guilty to training the animals for fighting.
article_snippet.sent: Darren Wheatcroft pleaded guilty to attempting to arrange a fight between illegal pit bull terrier-type dogs, while Darren Wheatcroft son, Callan (left), and farmer Simon Whitworth (right) pleaded guilty to training the animals for fighting .
article_snippet.sent: District Judge James Clarke slammed dogfighting for District Judge James Clarke role in 'creating a black market economy' in East Lancashire.
article_snippet.sent: District Judge James Clarke told the defendants: 'These dogs are illegal for a reason.
article_snippet.sent: Darren Wheatcroft, 48, and Darren Wheatcroft son Callan, 22, both of Accrington, admitted keeping and training three of the dogs.
article_snippet.sent: Whitworth, 44, of Oswaldtwistle, admitted keeping and training another two dogs.
article_snippet.sent: Darren Wheatcroft admitted a further charge of arranging a dogfight, although the RSPCA could not prove that the event ever took place.
article_snippet.sent: But RSPCA prosecutor Chris Wyatt added: 'The court cannot be proved that these injuries were the result of recent fights or that the defendants were in possession of the dogs when the defendants may have been involved in fights with other animals.'