0:00

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0:02

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0:05

Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app

0:07

or on Apple Podcasts.

0:16

This is a story about an allegation of

0:18

sexual crime and so I just wanted

0:20

you to know that as we head into court,

0:23

we'll be hearing some quite graphic details.

0:26

You're also going to learn some rather surprising

0:28

things about dolphins' intimate

0:30

anatomy. Well,

0:32

I was surprised. May 1990,

0:41

off the coast of Amble. I'm

0:44

in the North Sea. It's freezing.

0:47

Waves break over the top of me and

0:50

I'm gulping in salt water.

0:52

Gordon, the

0:55

lifeboat mechanic, and his mate Davy are watching me from the

0:57

boat. I can just about see their broad smiles. I

1:00

look ridiculous because I'm

1:04

in an enormous drysuit which

1:06

Gordon has lent me. It's

1:08

too big, so it's filled up with air like

1:11

a balloon and I'm kind

1:13

of bouncing around on the surface of the

1:15

sea with

1:18

no control at all.

1:22

Then

1:25

a massive dark

1:27

shadow glides under the water. It's

1:31

Freddy. I try and turn

1:33

to see where he's gone but before

1:35

I know it... Whoosh!

1:38

He's really close.

1:39

Something

1:43

hooks me under my arm. I

1:45

hear a click and a whistle. Then

1:49

we're off. I'm being pulled through

1:51

the water

1:52

really fast. Freddy

1:56

and I are whizzing further out to sea. He's

1:59

just so powerful.

1:59

It's

2:04

quite scary,

2:05

but it's accelerating and

2:07

I feel euphoric. Now

2:12

I know what Alan means. It's

2:15

just out of this

2:17

world you know. Freddy

2:20

is in control, he's got hold of

2:22

me, he's very strong and

2:24

I have to just let it happen.

2:26

Now he's pulling me around in circles,

2:29

I am gasping for breath and

2:32

I have to grab hold of something to study

2:34

myself. I hold on tight

2:37

to what's holding on to

2:39

me. Oh wow,

2:43

she did so far. Oh wow, I

2:45

know how. She's at the

2:47

boat, I sense Gordon

2:49

and Davey want to tell me something

2:52

to politely warn me. That

2:56

position you are in is a bad position. Yes,

2:59

I'm not saying that. It's an amorous position

3:01

you see called a female dolphin. Oh,

3:04

I think it might be. I got a

3:06

hint it could be. Oh, do you see that?

3:08

Yeah, I certainly didn't miss

3:10

that. Oh,

3:13

you get to know him too, Davey. I bet he does.

3:16

I believe I get to go straight to dolphin. Now,

3:21

there's something you need to know about what's

3:23

happening here, about how this

3:26

feeling of euphoria is possible

3:29

because a part of Freddy was

3:31

pulling me and Alan too when

3:33

he

3:33

swam with him.

3:35

The thing that is securing us safely

3:37

in place, that part

3:40

is in fact Freddy's penis.

3:44

So, and there's no easy way

3:46

of putting this. We need to talk

3:49

about Freddy's penis because

3:52

you can't understand Alan's upcoming

3:54

trial without understanding

3:57

how a male dolphin's penis

3:59

works. The

4:02

thing is, dolphins almost

4:05

always have an erection. But

4:07

they don't always show it. It's

4:10

usually hidden in a slot in their belly.

4:13

And then, when they feel like it, they

4:15

can just flick it

4:16

out. It's not that

4:19

big, about 12 inches long. Well,

4:21

that's quite big I suppose.

4:23

But here's the thing. Dolphins

4:26

don't only use their penises

4:28

for sex.

4:29

They also use them a bit like

4:31

we use our hands to reach out and

4:34

explore the world, to touch

4:36

things, and sometimes to

4:38

pull things along. And

4:40

that includes human swimmers. It's

4:44

called hooking. Sounds

4:47

a bit weird. But it's

4:49

perfectly normal. And

4:52

on the day the allegation was made against

4:55

Alan Cooper, the allegation

4:58

that he'd engaged in a sexual act

5:00

with a dolphin, Freddie

5:02

was showing his erection. Nobody

5:06

disputes that. And nobody

5:08

disputes that Freddie was using his penis

5:11

to pull Alan through the water. The

5:14

question is, what

5:16

did Alan do next? For

5:20

the first and so far the last time

5:23

in British legal history, a man

5:25

is about to be put on trial for

5:28

masturbating a dolphin.

5:32

From Wondery

5:34

and Blanchard House, I'm Becky

5:36

Milligan. And this is...

6:02

Episode 4. In the Dock. It's

6:13

the 9th of December 1991, and there's

6:17

fog on the River Tyne. Alan's

6:20

in Newcastle, a city 30-minute

6:22

drive from Amble. It's

6:24

a freezing cold day, a miserable

6:27

Monday morning. And it's

6:29

the first day of Alan's trial.

6:31

The

6:34

crowd outside Newcastle Crown

6:36

Court is growing. It's

6:38

no surprise.

6:40

The story is everywhere. It's

6:42

the talk of the town.

6:43

Or, in fact, it's

6:45

the talk of the whole nation. Alan's

6:49

legal team is arriving. Among

6:51

them, Guy Otten and Mary

6:53

McKeown. It's the most extraordinary

6:56

case I've ever dealt with, and the greatest

6:58

case for me. It's the only one that I've ever

7:01

done where somebody's been accused

7:03

of interfering with a dolphin. Or

7:05

indeed any animal, perhaps, Patter. I

7:08

mean, actually the whole legal and criminal profession

7:11

in Manchester dined on this story for

7:13

years. It was a very high-profile

7:16

story,

7:16

and it had caught the public imagination.

7:19

You talk to people, if you say Freddie the Dolphin

7:20

case, people remember it still.

7:23

Alan looks very out of place

7:25

here. He's trying to rise

7:27

to the occasion. He's smartened

7:29

himself up, but he's not

7:32

fooling anyone, including his

7:34

dear friend Robin Sunflower, who

7:36

runs the vegan cafe.

7:38

Lab it in the headlights, kind of, you

7:40

know, man in a suit that's not normally

7:42

in a suit.

7:43

And Mary, his junior barrister.

7:46

A bit disheveled of a kind of ill-fitting

7:49

suit that he wore in a thin black

7:51

tie. The shevelled is one way

7:53

of putting it. It's only the second

7:56

time he's worn this suit. The

7:58

first time was at his mother's funeral. funeral, and

8:01

it's easily the smartest outfit

8:03

in Alan's

8:03

wardrobe. I bought a suit just

8:05

to honour my mother, and

8:08

then that came in handy for

8:10

the court case.

8:13

It's a massive day for Alan.

8:15

He's grateful to have his lawyers

8:17

and friends in his corner, but

8:20

if this goes wrong, he's

8:23

on his own.

8:24

It sounds incredibly

8:26

emotional and overstating

8:29

to say you're actually fighting for

8:32

who you are, you

8:34

know, and the consequences

8:36

of being found

8:39

guilty were obviously unthinkable.

8:42

Unthinkable because his reputation

8:45

will be shredded forever if

8:47

he is found guilty, but also

8:49

because if it does go

8:50

wrong, Alan's going to prison.

8:54

When he arrives at court, Alan walks

8:56

up the steps between its huge stone

8:58

columns and into the large entrance hall.

9:01

He meets his legal team and an

9:03

usher escorts him into the courtroom.

9:08

The court itself is small, but

9:11

it's intimidating enough. Wood

9:13

panels, a high ceiling, the

9:16

royal coat of arms looms over

9:18

the judge. Alan

9:21

takes his place in the dock.

9:22

The trial

9:25

has been a long time coming. You're

9:27

a friend, so if you just really don't know what's

9:30

going to happen, but the other half of

9:32

you is thinking, yeah, well, here's

9:34

my chance to clear my name.

9:37

So despite his ill-fitting suit,

9:39

he's ready for this,

9:42

ready to have his day in court.

9:45

You know, the day of judgement, yeah,

9:48

bring it on. You know, this is where I expose

9:50

what a load of nonsense it was, really.

9:53

Behind him, the public gallery

9:55

starts to fill with people drawn

9:57

to come and witness what's gearing up to be a

9:59

victim. the most bizarre trial anyone

10:02

can remember. So does

10:04

the press box that is left full

10:06

of hacks ready to publish salacious

10:09

stories. Alan's lawyers

10:12

file into court and take their seats

10:14

in front of him facing the judge. The

10:17

prosecution team follows.

10:21

All rise. The

10:24

judge enters the courtroom

10:26

and takes his seat. The

10:28

prosecution barrister, David Wood, stands

10:32

and

10:32

speaks. I appear for the crown.

10:34

My learned friend, Anthony Jennings, appears

10:36

for the defence.

10:38

That's Tony Jennings, the defence

10:40

barrister. The man Alan is staking

10:43

everything on, his best hope

10:45

of staying out of prison. The

10:48

clerk reads the charge.

10:51

That Alan Cooper, on the 28th

10:53

day of September 1990,

10:56

committed an act of allude, obscene

10:58

and disgusting nature and

11:00

outraged public decency by behaving

11:03

in an indecent manner with a bottlenose

11:05

dolphin to the great disgust and

11:07

annoyance of divers and Her Majesty's

11:09

subjects within whose purview such

11:11

an act was committed.

11:13

The court clerk asks how

11:16

Alan pleads.

11:17

Not guilty.

11:19

The jury is selected. Eight

11:22

women and four men. They're

11:24

asked if any of them have any connection

11:27

to the dolphinarium industry. They

11:29

don't.

11:30

Each juror

11:31

is sworn in one by one. And

11:36

with that, after 12 months

11:39

of rumours and gossip, newspaper headlines, abuse

11:44

and even death threats, the

11:46

trial finally begins. The

11:50

prosecution barrister stands up to deliver his opening statement. David

11:55

Wood has been a barrister for around 20 years,

11:57

an old hand. He

12:00

starts just like we did by explaining

12:02

how dolphins use their penises. He

12:05

tells the jury how dolphins' penises

12:08

are almost always erect, that

12:10

most of the time they're hidden, but sometimes

12:12

they bring them out to explore, that

12:15

their appearance is not necessarily sexual

12:17

at all. He explains

12:20

that many swimmers have had to deal with

12:22

this unfortunate aspect

12:24

of dolphin behaviour.

12:26

There are varying views of what the appropriate

12:28

response to that should be, but on the whole it is

12:31

best to disregard it. It

12:34

is part of the process of swimming, and one

12:37

tries to ignore it.

12:38

The barrister pauses and lands

12:41

his blow.

12:42

The prosecution case is that Mr

12:44

Cooper did not ignore it. He

12:47

actively encouraged it and said

12:49

to sexually stimulate that dolphin

12:52

by masturbating it.

12:54

And there it is, a statement

12:56

that has never been heard in

12:57

a criminal court before. Murmurs

13:00

spread across the courtroom, the

13:02

judge's eyebrows fleetingly rise.

13:06

If it was conducted by two humans in

13:08

public, it would no doubt cause outrage.

13:11

And the same applies if it occurs between a human

13:13

and an animal, because of the blatant sexual

13:15

conduct and also because of

13:17

the offence to the dignity of the animal

13:19

involved.

13:20

You'll recall that the charge against Allen

13:23

is that he outraged public

13:26

decency. That's what

13:28

the prosecutor David Wood has

13:30

to prove.

13:32

Now, remember, the allegations

13:34

against Allen all come from the people

13:36

on that one boat, bobbing

13:38

around while he was swimming with

13:40

Freddie on the 28th of September 1990. David

13:46

Wood says...

13:46

Members of the party were so

13:49

upset that they abandoned their

13:51

boat trip and made a complaint to the police.

13:54

But he tells the jury they are...

13:55

Not required to decide whether the people

13:57

in the boat were outraged. Clearly, they are. they

14:00

were. They were disgusted.

14:02

Now, he says, the jury have

14:05

to decide by applying

14:06

your ordinary everyday standards

14:09

of decency whether you yourselves

14:11

are outraged.

14:14

The prosecution calls their first

14:17

witness.

14:18

I call Alan Eyre to the stand.

14:21

Alan Eyre is a journalist

14:23

from Cumbria. He was on the

14:25

boat that day because he was planning

14:27

to write a feature about Freddy

14:30

for a local paper. He takes

14:32

the stand and facing

14:34

Alan Cooper is sworn

14:36

in. Mr.

14:37

Eyre, take

14:39

us through exactly what you saw on the day in

14:41

question, the 28th of September 1990.

14:45

Alan Eyre says he saw Freddy

14:47

lying on his back in the water in

14:50

the quote classic mating

14:52

position with an erect penis.

14:56

He says Alan was masturbating

14:58

Freddy. And

15:00

how exactly was he doing

15:02

that Mr. Eyre?

15:04

Alan Eyre says Alan Cooper

15:06

was moving his knees up

15:08

and down Freddy's penis and

15:11

then using his hands in the same

15:13

motion for about 20 minutes.

15:18

Are you absolutely certain that this

15:20

was a positive act by Mr. Cooper?

15:22

It could just have been accidental.

15:25

Alan Eyre says it was a

15:27

positive act by Alan Cooper.

15:30

There was no accidental

15:33

contact.

15:34

Alan Eyre

15:35

says he was gobsmacked by

15:37

what he thought.

15:39

No further questions.

15:40

It's a strong opening

15:42

for the prosecution. A witness

15:45

who is unequivocal about what he saw

15:48

that Alan was deliberately sexually

15:51

stimulating Freddy. Alan

15:54

Eyre is escorted out of court. With

15:57

Alan Eyre on the boat that day was

16:00

a press photographer Phil Rigby.

16:03

David Wood tells the court Rigby

16:06

also witnessed Alan Cooper fondling

16:09

Freddie for about 20 minutes.

16:13

It's not looking good for Alan, two

16:16

witnesses are corroborating the

16:18

same story. But

16:20

Alan's defence council wants to cross-examine

16:23

Phil Rigby because he

16:25

spotted something which could help

16:28

turn things around. Alan's

16:32

friend Doug Cartledge is watching

16:34

from the public gallery. This

16:37

is how he remembers the cross-examination.

16:39

The defence barrister

16:42

stands up and says, Mr Rigby,

16:44

how long have you worked as a photographer? Well,

16:47

quite a number of years. So you're an experienced

16:49

footage journalist then, Mr Rigby? Oh

16:52

yes, yes. Where

16:53

are the photographs, Mr Rigby?

16:55

Apparently Phil Rigby didn't take

16:58

any

16:58

photographs.

16:59

You're a professional photographer,

17:00

Mr Rigby. You've got the scope

17:02

of the century, Mr Rigby. Why

17:05

are there no photographs,

17:07

Mr Rigby?

17:09

And according to Alan and Doug, this

17:12

was Phil Rigby's response.

17:14

I was too embarrassed to take any

17:17

and even a judge smiled at that.

17:21

It's a win for the defence, a

17:23

win for Alan, a glimmer

17:25

of hope after a rocky start. And

17:28

it's thanks to Alan's defence barrister,

17:30

Tony Jennings. Tony

17:35

Jennings is a bit of a character on the court

17:38

circuit, larger than life, you might say. He's

17:41

from working class routes in East Belfast

17:44

and he's now making a name for himself, defending

17:47

some of the most controversial civil rights

17:50

cases of the day. Alan

17:53

first saw Tony defending his friends

17:55

at the Unilever trials we heard about in the last episode.

17:59

After that, Alan knew exactly

18:02

who he'd want in his corner if

18:05

he were ever in court again. He

18:07

was this huge personality,

18:10

both literally and metaphorically, and

18:13

he was a brilliant advocate. He was a complete

18:16

natural. He's also a bit

18:18

of a showman. His greatest

18:19

strength was he

18:21

could bring humor to even the most serious of

18:24

situations. And there is certainly

18:26

scope for humor in this case. What

18:28

he did was just sometimes lighten all through

18:31

very difficult moments. And he

18:33

had a great way of his juries because

18:35

he made them laugh. They obviously

18:37

warmed him.

18:38

At one point during the case, he

18:40

wants to underscore the point that

18:42

a dolphin's erection is

18:45

a bit like a human hand and is not

18:47

usually sexual. He contrasts

18:50

that with a man's erect

18:52

penis, which is almost always

18:55

sexual. And...

18:56

You don't use it to push a supermarket

18:59

trolley.

19:01

When Tony Jennings is questioning

19:04

one of the people on the boat, someone

19:06

who claimed they were disgusted by what they

19:08

said they saw, he again

19:11

emphasizes the fact that dolphins

19:13

use their penises to explore

19:15

the world and even to greet each other,

19:18

unlike humans.

19:20

Men do not greet one

19:22

another like this, except perhaps at

19:24

rugby club dinners. And I suggest

19:27

that is why you were disgusted. But

19:30

let's get back to the prosecution.

19:33

I call William Prickett to the stand.

19:36

William Prickett is a dolphin

19:38

trainer from London. He's led

19:40

through the courtroom and to the stand.

19:44

What did you think of what you saw, Mr

19:46

Prickett?

19:47

He tells the jury that Alan's actions were,

19:49

quote, fairly disgusting,

19:52

pretty perverse and bizarre.

19:55

No further questions. It's

19:57

the defence's turn. Tony

19:59

Jennings... He

20:01

knows the prosecution have landed some

20:04

serious hits on his client and

20:07

the jury has certainly noticed. This

20:10

alleged action, was it a continuous

20:12

action Mr Prickett?

20:14

The alleged masturbating of Freddy

20:17

by Alan was not continuous

20:19

he replies, because Freddy

20:21

kept swimming away and returning. How

20:25

long would you say it lasted and how many

20:27

times would you say it happened Mr Prickett?

20:30

The actions lasted about 30 seconds

20:32

each and happened between 3 and 10 times he says.

20:37

You're a dolphin expert Mr Prickett, in

20:39

your view when a dolphin hooks a swimmer

20:42

what are they trying to achieve?

20:43

When a swimmer is hooked by a dolphin's penis

20:46

Prickett says, all the dolphin is trying

20:48

to do is get purchased to try and

20:50

get its jollies. To put

20:52

it more bluntly to stimulate

20:54

itself sexually. For

20:57

the first time in the trial Freddy's

21:00

behaviour

21:01

is being questioned. When

21:03

Freddy's penis is erect and

21:05

he hooks the people he swims with

21:08

does that make him

21:10

or the hooked swimmer

21:11

the victim?

21:13

As Tony Jennings continues to

21:15

apply pressure Prickett's

21:17

tune starts

21:19

to change. Mr Prickett

21:21

did you see

21:22

Mr Cooper use his hands

21:24

or move his knees up and down

21:27

Freddy's erect penis?

21:29

He says he did not see Alan use

21:31

his hand or move his knees up and down while

21:34

Freddy's penis was standing erect

21:36

between Alan's legs.

21:38

Would you agree then Mr Prickett that Mr

21:40

Cooper was totally passive in the water

21:43

and that what movement he made was due

21:45

to bobbing up and down while keeping afloat?

21:47

Mr Prickett agrees.

21:50

Progress

21:51

for the defence and there's

21:53

one thing that shifts the course of

21:55

the trial in Alan's favour.

21:57

Even I'd miss a dolphin's

21:59

penis. could be masturbating captivity, even

22:02

said the under-oaf.

22:03

The dolphin trainer admits

22:06

he knows of captive dolphins in the United

22:08

States that are being masturbated.

22:10

He says it's for artificial

22:13

insemination

22:14

purposes. To the best

22:16

of your knowledge, Mr Prickett, has anyone

22:19

ever been arrested for doing this?

22:21

As far as he's aware, no one

22:23

has been arrested for doing

22:25

it. No further questions.

22:27

What it stood out was, I'm being accused

22:29

of masturbating the dolphin, and he's

22:32

admitting that the law allows

22:34

them to masturbate dolphins

22:35

in the cancer situation. If

22:38

I'm committing a crime, why aren't the people

22:40

in dolphin arms committing the same crime? It's

22:43

a defence of sorts. But

22:46

even if Alan was masturbating

22:48

Freddy,

22:49

it's fine because others do it too. Others

22:52

in the dolphinarium industry, Alan

22:54

denies he has ever masturbated

22:56

Freddy, but he knows he's going to need

22:59

a lot more than that. Witness

23:01

after witness has said under oath

23:04

that they were outraged by Alan's actions.

23:08

If the jury agrees, Alan's

23:11

going down.

23:27

It's the afternoon of the first day of

23:29

Alan Cooper's trial, and things

23:31

at Newcastle Crown Court are

23:33

heating up. The defence

23:35

have had two clean strikes. The

23:38

prosecution, one. The prosecutor,

23:41

David Wood, needs a comeback.

23:44

I call Fiona Huntington.

23:46

The first woman to be sworn

23:49

in. She's a keen diver

23:51

and a member of International Dolphin Watch,

23:54

a group that works to protect dolphins.

23:57

What was the purpose of the boat trip?

23:59

Miss Huntington.

24:01

She said she was going to swim with Freddie as

24:03

part of the feature that was being written for the

24:05

local paper.

24:07

What exactly did you see happen, Miss

24:09

Huntington?

24:11

Fiona says Alan was masturbating

24:13

Freddie with his knees. Then

24:16

Alan was doing it with the flippers he

24:18

was wearing on his feet. Then

24:20

with his hands.

24:21

Are you certain, Miss Huntington?

24:24

She says she is absolutely

24:27

sure about it. That it

24:29

was unmistakable.

24:31

Was what happened in

24:33

your view a deliberate act?

24:36

She says yes, it was

24:38

a deliberate act.

24:40

But Alan didn't even try to hide

24:42

what he was doing.

24:43

How did Mr Cooper's actions

24:46

make you feel?

24:47

She says they left her absolutely

24:50

shocked and horrified. Now

24:52

you yourself have swam with Freddie. Has

24:56

his penis ever been erect? And

24:58

if so, how did you

25:00

respond?

25:01

Fiona says that sometimes

25:04

his penis has been erect. And

25:06

when it is, she just moves away.

25:09

I have no further questions.

25:12

It's a comeback for the prosecution.

25:15

But then Tony Jennings

25:17

takes to his feet.

25:18

He has questions for Fiona Huntington

25:21

too. He starts

25:24

by saying that Freddie and Alan were

25:26

no more than 30 yards away from

25:28

the boat that Fiona was on.

25:30

Miss Huntington, what

25:31

colour wetsuit was Alan Cooper

25:33

wearing in the water that day?

25:35

He'd have to be a colourblind, not to know I had

25:37

a wetsuit which was blue with yellow arms,

25:40

but when Huntington gave her evidence, she

25:42

said I was wearing a red wetsuit.

25:45

Alan's distinctive wetsuit, dark

25:48

blue with yellow arms, had become

25:50

a familiar sight in Amble. It's

25:52

how he was recognised in the water

25:54

by fishermen and by locals

25:56

too. No further questions.

25:59

Alan's team

25:59

finish the first day on a

26:02

high but no one can

26:04

tell yet which way it's

26:06

going to go. It's

26:12

day two of the trial of

26:15

Alan Cooper. For

26:17

the second time, Alan is

26:19

escorted into the courtroom and

26:21

led towards the dock. The

26:24

jury members sit in their same seats.

26:26

The press and public settle.

26:28

All rise.

26:30

You don't know how things are going to unfold

26:33

until the judge

26:35

walks into the courtroom.

26:37

David Wood calls the first prosecution

26:40

witness of the day and

26:42

a familiar figure takes

26:44

to the stand.

26:45

I call Peter Bloom.

26:48

Peter Bloom, owner of

26:50

the captive dolphins at Flamingoland,

26:53

the man who Alan believes is behind

26:56

the accusation and this whole

26:58

humiliating carnival. Peter

27:02

swears to tell the truth, the

27:04

whole truth,

27:06

and nothing but the truth.

27:09

On the day in question, you were out on a boat

27:11

trip weren't you? Who

27:13

were you on the boat with Mr Bloom?

27:16

Peter Bloom tells the court that he was

27:18

on the boat with a group of people. One

27:20

of the people he met on the boat was a local

27:23

journalist called Alan Eyre. The

27:25

court had heard Alan Eyre's testimony on

27:27

day one.

27:28

What was the purpose of the boat trip

27:31

Mr Bloom?

27:32

The group on the boat wanted to see Freddie,

27:34

Peter Bloom tells the court. The

27:36

journalist Alan Eyre wanted to write a feature

27:38

about him and one of the other passengers

27:41

wanted to get in and swim with Freddie.

27:44

But when they eventually saw Freddie in the water,

27:47

they realised he wasn't alone, that

27:49

Alan Cooper had got there first.

27:52

Then you saw something,

27:54

didn't you

27:55

Mr Bloom? Tell

27:57

the jury exactly what you

27:59

saw.

28:01

Peter Bloom said he saw Alan

28:03

Cooper lying on top of Freddy

28:05

the Dolphin and that he was allowing

28:08

Freddy to thrust his penis

28:10

between Alan's flippers.

28:13

As a dolphin expert and

28:15

as someone who's been studying Freddy over the last

28:17

few years, what are your thoughts

28:20

on Alan Cooper's alleged actions towards

28:22

Freddy?

28:23

Peter tells the court that he thinks Alan's

28:25

actions were irresponsible

28:28

and dangerous.

28:30

Mr Bloom, can you please explain to the jury

28:33

why you believe Alan Cooper's alleged actions

28:36

towards Freddy were irresponsible and dangerous?

28:39

Peter explains that Alan's

28:41

alleged actions can arouse all

28:44

sorts of other emotions and

28:46

reactions in Freddy. He

28:48

says unfulfilled sexual activity

28:52

could lead to a dolphin becoming

28:54

frustrated and aggressive,

28:57

and this aggression may not

28:59

be directed towards the swimmer who turned the dolphin

29:02

on, but against the person

29:04

who meets him next.

29:07

Tony Jennings for the defence listens

29:10

very carefully.

29:12

He has what he hopes might just be

29:15

an ace up his sleeve.

29:34

It's time for the defence to cross-examine

29:37

Peter Bloom. Tony

29:39

Jennings slowly gets to his feet.

29:44

Mr Bloom, you've made these allegations

29:47

against Alan Cooper. Now

29:49

Mr Cooper belongs to a campaign

29:51

to close down dolphinariums and

29:54

he's active in moves to have one captive

29:56

dolphin released into the sea from the pool

29:58

where it lives. That captive

30:01

dolphin lives in the dolphinarium

30:03

at Flamingoland. Your

30:06

dolphinarium, Mr Bloom. Are

30:09

you aware of Mr Cooper's campaign,

30:11

Mr Bloom?

30:12

Peter Bloom says he was not aware

30:15

of Alan Cooper's involvement in that

30:17

campaign at the time of the alleged

30:20

assault on Freddy.

30:24

Mr Bloom, do you know of the film called

30:27

The Frick Machine?

30:28

Peter Bloom says yes.

30:30

Is there a sequence in that film where a dolphin

30:33

leaps up out of the water and removes

30:35

a woman's bikini?

30:36

Peter Bloom says yes.

30:39

Did you train those dolphins, Mr Bloom?

30:42

The answer?

30:44

Yes.

30:45

Peter Bloom agrees. He

30:48

trained three of his female captive

30:50

dolphins at Flamingoland for

30:52

this film. He admits that

30:55

in one scene a dolphin that

30:57

he has trained leaps

31:00

out of the water and removes the woman's

31:02

bikini top. And

31:04

that in another scene a

31:06

man swims naked with a dolphin.

31:08

No further questions.

31:11

This isn't just another win for the defence. It's

31:15

a jab at the dolphinarium industry

31:17

and its ethics.

31:20

Jennings point is that Peter Bloom

31:22

has trained dolphins to perform sexualised

31:25

scenes for entertainment.

31:29

It's time for the last witness of day

31:31

two.

31:33

One more person has yet to

31:35

testify against Alan Cooper. The

31:39

prosecution has one more chance

31:41

to land a blow.

31:43

I wish to call Neil Hope to the stand. Neil Hope's

31:45

a

31:47

local diver.

31:50

Mr Hope, was September

31:52

28th 1990 the first time you saw Alan Cooper behaving with

31:54

Freddy in a sexual manner? He

31:58

tells the court

31:59

that he was a male.

31:59

of two earlier occasions

32:02

when Alan was behaving with Freddy

32:05

in a similar way to that alleged

32:07

in the case.

32:08

When was the first time you saw

32:10

Alan Cooper engaged in sexual

32:12

activity with Freddy, Mr Hope?

32:15

Neil describes seeing Alan being

32:17

towed along by Freddy

32:19

by no obvious means, more

32:22

than a month before the incident.

32:23

On closer inspection,

32:27

what exactly did you see, Mr Hope?

32:30

Under the water, he saw one of Alan's

32:33

wrists clearly hooked between

32:35

Freddy's penis and body, he says.

32:38

Freddy's body was thrusting

32:40

in a mating action. On

32:43

one of these occasions, Neil says

32:45

he was in the sea at the same time

32:47

as Alan Cooper.

32:49

Freddy reared up in the water and

32:52

struck Neil on the head with his snout

32:55

before returning to Alan.

32:57

This seems to support Peter Bloom's

32:59

claims

32:59

that Alan's alleged

33:02

actions made Freddy aggressive.

33:05

And what about the second occasion, Mr Hope? When

33:08

exactly did you see Alan Cooper behaving

33:10

in a sexual manner with Freddy for the second

33:12

time?

33:13

It was a week later, he replies.

33:15

And on this second

33:18

occasion, Mr Hope, what exactly

33:20

did you see?

33:21

He says Cooper was

33:23

holding onto Freddy's penis with

33:25

the same sort of wrist-hooking and

33:28

the dolphin was again thrusting.

33:31

Neil was disgusted. Then

33:36

David Wood

33:37

reveals the first piece of

33:40

material evidence in the trial,

33:43

a colour photograph taken

33:45

underwater

33:46

by Neil Hope.

33:48

And what he says

33:49

it shows has the potential

33:52

to seal Alan's fate.

33:59

coming up on Hooked on Freddy.

34:03

Now, Mr. Cooper, I have your police statement

34:05

in front of me. You told

34:08

the police and I quote, sometimes

34:11

Freddy plays rough. The end

34:13

of the trial approaches

34:16

and Alan takes the stand

34:18

to face the accusations head

34:20

on. In the same police statement, you say

34:22

you spent up to 300 hours

34:25

swimming with Freddy. 300 hours. That's

34:30

an awful lot of time, isn't it, Mr. Cooper?

34:33

Enough time to come to understand

34:36

the dolphin's urges and

34:38

perhaps, hope's satisfying.

34:47

You can listen to every episode of Hooked

34:49

on Freddy early and ad-free

34:51

on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery

34:54

Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple

34:56

podcasts.

35:01

From Wondery and Blanchard House,

35:03

this is episode four of six

35:05

of Ton Fudy,

35:07

the story of an unusual friendship

35:10

between a swimmer and a wild dolphin

35:13

and the scandal that threatened

35:15

to destroy them both.

35:19

A quick note about the dramatized exchanges

35:21

in this episode. There are no transcripts

35:24

of the cork seating, so we've

35:26

spent a lot of time piecing together

35:29

everything we could about this trial based

35:32

on all

35:33

the available records from the time,

35:36

including police

35:37

records, newspaper reports

35:39

of the trial and

35:40

speaking to every participant we

35:42

could find who was willing

35:43

to contribute. But despite

35:46

our best efforts, there are a few

35:48

gaps. We can't always

35:50

know every word that

35:51

was said, so we've used our extensive

35:54

research to fill those gaps as

35:56

best we could. Packed

36:01

On Freddy is hosted, written

36:04

and produced by me, Becky Milligan, with

36:06

additional production by Seren Jones.

36:09

Our managing producers are Rachel Sibley

36:11

for Wandry and Amika Shuntino

36:14

Nolan

36:14

for the Anshar team. Original

36:17

music is by Daniel

36:18

Lloyd Evans, Louis Knight-Mannell

36:20

and Toby Miff-Tamont. Sound

36:22

design and engineering by Vulcan

36:25

Sivolta.

36:26

Our executive producers are Lawrence

36:29

Griselle and Rosie Pie for Blanchard

36:31

House and Michelle

36:33

Martin, Rich Knight,

36:34

Jessica Radburn and Marshall

36:37

Lily for Wandry. Go

36:58

to Beadaholique.com for all of your beading supply needs!