Julian Mark Ridgeway
Julian Mark Ridgeway has been jailed for having sex with a horse West Yorkshire Police

A man has been told to confront his "deviant sexual history" after being convicted of having sex with a horse.

Julian Mark Ridgeway was handed a four year prison sentence with a further six years to serve on licence after being caught having intercourse with a horse near his home in Wakefield, Yorkshire.

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The 54-year-old was handed an extended jail sentence after he was described as "dangerous" by Recorder Paul Greaney QC at Leeds Crown Court on Friday 3 February.

In 1990, Ridgeway was convicted of attempted murder after being caught naked from the waist down near a pony. He strangled the 16-year-old pony owner who caught him in the act, almost killing her before he was jailed for eight years.

In May last year, Ridgeway was convicted by a jury of trespassing at an outbuilding with intent to commit a sexual offence and of intercourse with an animal between April 18 to May 10.

The owners of the mare, named Honey, were suspicious something was going on and challenged Ridgeway who ran off. But semen containing Ridgeway's DNA was found at the scene suggesting that sex with the horse had occurred on a previous occasion.

In the recent trial, Ridgeway again maintained he had no sexual fascination with horses and denied having had sex with Honey.

Recorder Greaney said according to the Huddersfield Daily Examiner: "I am quite satisfied that you have a deep seated sexual interest in horses and ponies that you struggle to control and which you were unable to control in 1990 and 2016.

"There is a very high risk you will seek to have sex with a horse or pony in the future."

It was also stated that police had serious concerns about how Ridgeway would react if caught in that situation again.

After being convicted of attempted murder in 1991, when he choked his teenage victim twice, almost killing her, Justice Jowett told him: "You were about to behave in a disgusting manner with her pony and when she surprised you, you quite plainly decided she should not live to tell the tale."