CONVICTED (2012) | Donna Edwards (aka Donna Wright), born 2 March 1978, of Bank Street, Bradley, Bilston, Wolverhampton WV14 8PA – left her elderly pet dog to waste away in her back garden
Mother-of-three Edwards kept her 13-year-old dog chained up outside her home in Bilston, with a shelter that was completely open to the elements.
Police attended the house for another matter and officers discovered the animal in a collapsed state in the garden.
He was skeletal, infested with maggots, soaking wet and surrounded by faeces.
The RSPCA was alerted and the dog was rushed to a vets, who put him to sleep to end his suffering.
Mr Roger Price, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court how police officers found the dog lying on wet concrete and initially thought he was dead.
Mr Price told the court the dog was in an “atrocious” state.
He weighed just 12.5kg when an ideal weight for a dog of his size would be 30kg.
“The dog had no body fat at all,” Mr Price added. “He was extremely weak and maggots were crawling out of its skin. This dog had been abandoned.”
He revealed there was a chain attached to the back of Edwards’ house and the garden was full of dog mess.
He added: “The shelter was wet inside and open to the elements.
“The dog suffered a urine scald and had a pressure sore.
“The emaciation was to such a degree that the skeletal structure was visible and there was a total lack or absence of any body fat.”
Edwards pleaded guilty to three charges of causing unnecessary suffering and two counts of failing to take reasonable care of the animal.
Sentencing: 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years ; 200 hours of unpaid work. Ordered to pay £2,297 in costs and £43 in compensation to the vets. Banned from keeping animals for life.
CONVICTED (2012) | Ian McHattie, born c. 1988, of Morrison Place, Peterhead AB42 3HW – starved and neglected his pet dog
Father-of-two Ian McHattie pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his female Staffordshire bull terrier, named Gabby, by failing to provide adequate nutrition.
Neglected dog Gabby survived her ordeal and was rehomed
A Scottish SPCA inspector visited McHattie’s home in August 2011 and found the one-year-old dog in a severe state of emaciation with no access to food or water.
Yesterday, SSPCA inspector Fiona Mckenzie said it was disappointing that the court had not handed out a lifetime ban.
She said: “Following our investigation, McHattie has been convicted of causing an animal unnecessary suffering and now has a criminal record. A one-year ban on keeping animals has been imposed and as a result, Gabby will not be returned to his care.
“While we have to accept the decisions of the courts, given the nature of this case we would have supported a life ban.
“Poor Gabby was in a horrendous state of emaciation, weighing under 9kg (19.8lb) when a dog of her breed and age should be around 16kg (35.2lb).
“McHattie failed to provide her with the diet she needed and there is no doubt Gabby suffered a great deal. When I offered her water she drank so fast I feared she would make herself sick.
“Thankfully, Gabby has since recovered in our care and we can now find her the loving home she deserves.”
Sentencing: 150 hours of community service; £500 fine. Banned from keeping animals for ONE year.
CONVICTED (2012) | Lauren McMeechan, born c. 1988, of High Street, Linlithgow EH48 7EJ – left her pet dogs to starve almost to death
Vile Lauren McMeechan was not banned from keeping animals and walked free from court without so much as a fine
Callous Lauren McMeechan left the two dogs – a male Irish setter and a female black Labrador – in the worst state of starvation a vet had ever seen.
McMeechan pleaded guilty to starving and neglecting the dogs.
The court heard that when investigators called at her home in May 2010, they found one-year-old setter Reilly and five-year-old Lab Halle with their ribs, spine and hip bones sticking through their fur.
McMeechan’s dogs Reilly and Halle recovered and were rehomed together
McMeechan admitted causing the pair unnecessary suffering by failing to provide proper nourishment between April 1 and May 27, 2010.
But she told the court she failed to care for them because she was suffering from depression.
Iain Smith, defending, asked for no ban to be imposed on her keeping animals. He said: “In a good mental health state she would be a fit person to look after animals, although she has no plans to do so at present.”
Sheriff Donald Muirhead admonished McMeechan but advised her to think twice about keeping pets in the future.
He said: “If you feel yourself getting down or in a low mood and you have animals, give them away because you obviously can’t look after them in that state.”
2016 photo of McMeechan
SSPCA chief superintendent Mike Flynn said: “We are shocked no ban on keeping animals has been imposed by the court.
“The vet who examined both dogs said it was one of the worst cases of starvation he had ever seen and we believe that a life ban would have been entirely appropriate in this instance.
“Not only is it important in cases such as this, where we believe the offender has demonstrated they are unfit to care for animals, it also sends out an important message – that owning an animal is a privilege and not a right.
“Thankfully, both dogs were taken into our care and, after prolonged rehabilitation, have found a loving home together.”
CONVICTED (2012) | Claire Guy (was Cahill), born c. 1991, and Matthew Guy, born c. 1989, of Oak Avenue, Cannock WS12 4QB – starved their pet dog to the point of death
Matthew Guy pretended to have found the Staffordshire bull terrier in a field when he contacted council dog wardens to take her away.
But his deception was discovered after the previous owners were contacted through information found on a microchip in the dog.
The bitch, called Jade, was so weak she couldn’t eat or drink and had to be put down.
Three separate veterinary surgeons had rated her condition as zero on a scale of nought to five, highlighting excessive loose skin and her skeletal state, with clearly visible pelvic and hip bones.
When the animal was first picked up, she was severely dehydrated and drank a bowl and a half of water, said Roger Price, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA.
She was put on a drip for 36 hours but remained in a critical condition, hardly able to stand, passing blood and eventually unable to feed. Vets concluded she could not be saved.
Guy’s attempt to pass the dog off as a stray was maintained throughout dealings with South Staffordshire Council’s dog wardens.
Experts estimated the animal had been starved for at least two weeks and probably longer.
Guy and Cahill bought the dog off the Internet.
Guy pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a dog and of being in breach of a conditional discharge for criminal damage. They both admitted failing to ensure the animal’s welfare.
Sentencing: 12-month supervision order; ordered to pay £1,018 in costs each. Guy was ordered to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work. Both were banned from keeping animals for 10 years (expired February 2022).
CONVICTED (2012) | Lee Powell, born c. 1961, and partner Julie Ann Jones, born c. 1970, both of 3 Sunderland Drive, Stourbridge DY8 4LD – sold a crippled and badly-nourished monkey as a pet instead of taking him to a vet for treatment
Julie Jones and Liam Powell are banned from keeping animals for life following their callous neglect of marmoset monkey, Mikey (pictured)
Powell and Jones were convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a four-month-old marmoset, known as Mikey.
The monkey was sold for £650 but his injuries were found to be so severe he later had to be put down.
Vets said the baby marmoset had bone disease and fractures as a result of the couple’s failure to care for him properly.
Powell and Jones previously denied being aware of any problems with the animal which they sold to a woman in the car park of a fish and chip shop in June 2011.
The buyer, Sheila Lister, took the monkey to an exotic pet dealer who alerted the RSPCA to his poor condition.
Pet shop owner Jimmy Wick said as soon as he had seen Mikey he knew something was seriously wrong.
He said: “For a young monkey to have so many broken bones at different rates of healing means it’s just not one thing that’s happened to him – it was just awful to see.
“He couldn’t walk properly, he would commando-crawl.”
Mr Wick said when he had tried to introduce the marmoset to an adult female that had babies of her own, Mikey had been unable to cling on to her because of his many injuries.
He said: “It was crying its eyes out because it wanted to get to her. “It broke my heart to see it.”
RSPCA inspector Jackie Hickman said when she had looked into Mikey’s eyes she thought she could read his emotions but had felt powerless to save him.
She said: “I’m pleased the court’s viewed this seriously.
“It’s a situation where these animals shouldn’t really be kept as pets, but it’s commonly happening.”
Sentencing: 12-month community order with 300 hours of unpaid work; ordered to pay £2,713.50 towards the RSPCA’s costs and compensation to Ms Lister of £325 each. Banned from keeping animals for life.
CONVICTED (2012) | Christopher Carter, born c. 1962, of The Burrows, Common Lane, King’s Lynn PE32 1QQ and 22 Daseleys Close, King’s Lynn PE30 3SL and Luke James Byrne, born 22 October 1993, of 22 Daseleys Close, King’s Lynn PE30 3SL – caused animal fights by setting terriers on foxes and a rat caught in traps
Christopher Carter (left) during his court appearance and a recent (2019) Facebook photo of Luke Byrne
Gamekeeper Christopher Carter, who works at the West Acre Estate next to the Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk, was filmed laughing as his dog tore a fox to pieces. In court, he admitted encouraging his dogs to fight with the fox.
Luke Byrne, who at the time was shadowing Carter on school work experience, filmed his terrier Sid ripping apart a trapped fox on the land. He is heard in the footage screaming ‘kill it’.
Jonathan Eales, prosecuting for the RSPCA, showed magistrates video footage, recorded by Byrne, of the fights which saw dogs attacking a rat and foxes animals trapped in snares.
Horrific footage captured Luke Byrne goading his dog into tearing a helpless fox to pieces.
The first clip showed a fight between Byrne’s dog and rat which took place on June 20, 2009.
The other videos showed Carter’s two dogs attacking a fox on July 2, 2009 and a fight between one of Carter’s dogs and a fox on June 15, 2010.
Mr Eales said the offences came to light after a woman bought the phone from Byrne’s parents on Ebay and found one of the video clips.
Both men were raided by the RSPCA and police, who found pictures of three dead birds – a heron, a buzzard and a cormorant – on a laptop at Byrne’s address.
Mr Eales asked magistrates to consider depriving both men of their dogs, who would then be re-homed by the RSPCA, but magistrates refused.
Luke Byrne pictured in 2014. image: Facebook.
James MacWhirter, defending Byrne, said: ‘If there was a case where you ought to temper justice with leniency, in my submission it’s this kind of case.’
Mr MacWhirter said Byrne regretted his actions ‘with every fibre of his body’.
In a letter handed to the bench, Byrne said: ‘The guilt I feel and the shame I have brought to myself and my family is massive.’
Malcolm Savory, representing Carter, said his client had 15 character references and was a man with no previous convictions, who was of exemplary character.
‘He is held in wide regard as a gamekeeper, as a family man, as a conservationist and a countryman,’ he said.
‘An essential part of a gamekeeper’s job is the control of vermin and that includes foxes. It’s an entirely legal procedure if done properly.’
Mr Savory said the offence which Carter had admitted occurred because he had allowed an inexperienced dog off the leash alongside a more experienced animal, which was marking a snared fox.
He said Carter was ‘full off shame and self-disgust’, adding: ‘It goes against everything he knows, everything he believes.’
Chair of the bench Alison Wakes-Miller said of Byrne that the bench did not feel it necessary to ban him from keeping animals because of his previous good character and because it was not likely he would repeat the offence.
Mrs Wakes-Miller told Byrne: ‘We do not believe you should be deprived of your dogs or banned from keeping dogs because this was a one-off and totally out of character.’
Sentencing | Byrne: four-month prison sentence, suspended for 12 months; 150 hours of unpaid work; £500 costs.
Carter: eight weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months; 150 hours of unpaid work.£1,000 costs.
West Acre is owned and managed by the Trustees of West Acre Estate, which is headed by wealthy Henry Birkbeck and his son Alec Birkbeck. Following Christopher Carter’s conviction, Alec said his family had been stunned by Carter’s ‘out of character’ behaviour but had not fired their disgraced employee.
He said: ‘It’s been horrible.’
He added: ‘We’re just so glad it’s over, it’s such an unfortunate incident.’
Henry Birkbeck said: ‘The taking of his [Carter’s] own two dogs has caused great stress and trauma for the family.’
The landowner said he intended to stick by his gamekeeper. He said: ‘My faith may be shattered but not lost.’
Despite being directly involved in at least two animal fights, Luke Byrne was described in court as “of good character” with magistrates thinking it unlikely he would repeat his “one-off” acts of animal cruelty. More than three years after his conviction Byrne posted this advert for cruel animal trapping devices on a local Facebook selling site.
CONVICTED (2012) | badger baiting ring Alan ‘Bok’ Alexander, born 03/04/1979, of Bramham Grove, York YO26 5BH, Richard Lee Simpson, born 24/11/1974, of Bramham Grove, York YO26 5BH, Paul Ian Tindall, born 30/03/1978, of Boroughbridge Road, York YO26 6AL, William Edward Anderson, born 29/05/1985, formerly of Hillside Farm in Pickering but as of April 2020 residing at the Jam House, Alne Hills, Great Alne, Alcester, Stratford on Avon B49 6JT, Christopher ‘Tiffa’ Martin Holmes, born 04/03/1983, of Byland Avenue, York YO31 9AY and Malcolm David Warner, born 21/02/1983, of Tedder Road, York YO24 3JD
Scarborough Magistrates’ Court heard how the group of six men and a 17-year-old boy dug out two badgers and laughed as they set a pack of 13 dogs on them. The horrific incident took place on farmland at Howsham, near York, in January 2011.
An RSPCA inspector involved in the case said it was the worst incident of badger baiting he had ever seen.
Sobia Ahmed, prosecuting, told the court that two witnesses, including wildlife photographer Robert Fuller, heard the sound of dogs barking excitedly and a badger squealing in distress and went to investigate. When they reached the scene, they saw two large dogs attacking a badger.
Ms Ahmed said: ‘They had hold of it in their mouths and were shaking it violently. They said the dogs were playing tug of war with the badger.’
Mr Fuller recalled in court how the men ‘laughingly’ encouraged the beasts before they spotted him and fled the scene.
Wildlife photographer Robert Fuller managed to take this picture showing Alan Alexander snatching at a badger in the dog’s mouth
After some time, the badger was shot dead by Anderson and the men, who had become aware of the witnesses and tried to cover their tracks by throwing the dead badger into the undergrowth.
They then buried a second dead badger – a pregnant animal which had been torn to pieces by the dogs – back into the hole from which it had been dug.
Ms Ahmed said witnesses called the police and the men and teenager were arrested a short time later.
Police and RSPCA inspectors who visited the scene found animal intestines and badger foetuses scattered around and areas of congealed blood, believed to be from where the badger had been shot.
When they recovered the two badgers, one was found to have been shot at close range and had a fractured skull and jaw.
Badger baiting ring members Christopher Holmes (left) and Malcolm ‘Mally’ Warner were given suspended prison sentences
The other had part of its abdomen missing and injuries consistent with being attacked by a dog.
Mr Fuller later gave his pictures to the police and RSPCA and they were used to convict the gang.
When they investigated, the authorities established the men had killed three adult badgers and three unborn cubs.
Ms Ahmed said the pregnant badger suffered ‘a sustained attack by a number of dogs that had caused the badger to be torn to pieces and eventually it bled to death’ while the other had a ‘gunshot wound to the head immediately after a severe and sustained attack by a number of dogs’.
Ms Ahmed described the operation as a ‘sophisticated enterprise’ in which the men used equipment to track down the badgers.
Speaking after the sentencing, RSPCA Inspector Geoff Edmond said: “I was there on the day and was responsible for removing a pregnant badger which had been buried in a hole, which had been ripped to bits by dogs.
“That’s horrific, barbaric, and these badgers had been tortured by these dogs on that day.”
Alexander, Simpson, Tindall and Anderson were jailed for 16 weeks after being found guilty of wilfully killing a badger, hunting a mammal with dogs, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett.
Alexander and Simpson were also convicted of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
All four men were each ordered to pay £750 costs and £100 compensation.
Alan Alexander
Holmes and Warner were handed 12-week custodial sentences suspended for 12 months after they pleaded guilty to wilfully killing a badger, digging for badgers and interfering with a badger sett. They were told to pay £250 costs and £100 compensation
The 17-year-old boy, who could not be named for legal reasons, was given a youth rehabilitation order.
An eighth person, James Doyle from Westfield Avenue, Knottingley, was acquitted.
CONVICTED (2012) | David John Timms, born 17/03/1983, most recently of Lower North Street, Walsall WS4 2BB – banned from keeping animals for life after having an emaciated pet dog at his home
David Timms from Walsall is banned from keeping animals for life
Elderly German Shepherd cross Bengi was so weak he struggled to stand up after weeks of unnecessary suffering. The 13-year-old dog had dropped to nearly half his ideal weight.
The RSPCA was called to Timms’ previous address in Reedswood Gardens, Walsall, on August 31, 2011, after neighbours became growingly concerned for the dog’s welfare.
Veterinary examination showed Bengi weighed just 8.4kg when the ideal weight for a dog of his breed would be n the region of 16kg.
The malnourished animal was kept on behalf of the RSPCA and gained nearly 6kg in just a few weeks.
Mrs Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said: “The dog was so weak and so thin it was unsteady on its legs. The vet said the dog had been exposed to unnecessary suffering for a significant period of time of at least four weeks.”
When interviewed by the RSPCA Timms said the dog was fed regularly most days but he had been struggling for cash.
Mrs Sheila Hicklin, defending, said her client suffered from learning difficulties and had not purchased the animal but it had been deposited at his home.
She said he tried to call the RSPCA but when the line was busy he didn’t persevere.
Bengi recovered and was rehomed.
Sentencing: community order with 12 months of supervision; ordered to pay £500 RSPCA costs. Given a lifetime ban on having pets with right of appeal after 10 years (i.e. around January 2022).
CONVICTED (2012) | violent career criminal Paul Henry, born c. 1966, from Gainsborough (address tbc) – microwaved a cat to death at a friend’s flat
Cat killer Paul Henry
The court heard that Henry microwaved the 18-month-old cat, Suzie, on 26 July 2010 after his friend, Andrew Parsons, allowed him to stop at his home.
Mr Parsons returned from work to find Suzie’s remains in the microwave oven.
The words ‘Menu fried cat £1.20’ had been written on the kitchen wall.
Henry denied causing unnecessary suffering to the animal. But the court was told within 48 minutes of Mr Parsons leaving home at 4.30pm a text message was sent from Henry’s mobile phone to his then girlfriend which read: ‘Claire, just cooking Andy’s cat, enroute.’
A second message sent from the same phone a short time later added: ‘Just cooking Andy’s cat in microwave, be two minutes.’
The court heard Henry tried to deflect blame on a second friend, Phillip Mathers, who also visited Mr Parson’s flat while he was at work.
Henry tried to blame Philip Mathers for Suzie’s death but this was not accepted by the court due to lack of evidence
But Mathers, also from Gainsborough, was cleared of any involvement after Judge Stobart said there was no evidence to place him at the scene when the cat was cooked.
Mr Parsons said after finding Suzie he rang the police and quickly got a phonecall from Henry. ‘He just said it was Mathers who did your cat.’
Mathers admitted stealing a razor from Mr Parson’s flat and injecting the Class A drug liquid amphetamines with Henry, but insisted he was not present when the cat was cooked.
Paul Wood, prosecuting, said: ‘The cat was alive when placed into the microwave and died as a result of being cooked in it.’
District judge John Stobart told Henry it was the “worse case of animal cruelty he could imagine”.
He said he had given Henry the maximum sentence the law allowed.
Sentencing: six months in jail. Unspecified ban on keeping animals.
Judge Michael Heath told Henry he was “self-absorbed” and a “manipulative bully”.
He said the microwaving of the cat was “an illustration of the callous way in which you are prepared to behave towards another living being”.
Henry microwaved the cat, called Suzie, on 26 July last year.
Michael Cranmer-Brown, defending, said Henry had confessed about the cat incident to Ms Boswell and she had been a witness against him in relation to that.
He said Henry was taking drugs for depression at the time, and started texting Miss Boswell.
“His texts turned to talk of taking his own life, which she seemed to be effectively encouraging him to do,” said Mr Cranmer-Brown.
Henry was then arrested on 14 September 2011 for harassing Miss Boswell, after he climbed on to her roof several days before, entered her house and said he intended to kill her.
He appeared at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court on 15 September 2011, where he was given a suspended sentence.
He went to her house the same day, smashed a window to gain entry, took a knife from her kitchen drawer and stabbed Ms Boswell.
The knife penetrated her breast and punctured her liver, causing life-threatening injuries.
He was jailed for causing unnecessary suffering to the cat while on remand for the attempted murder in September 2011.
He was found guilty of attempted murder following a trial.
The court heard about numerous convictions for violence against other people, starting when Henry was 12 or 13.
These included assaulting another girlfriend twice in 2004.
In 1993 he punched his manager several times, causing him grievous bodily harm, after being told he was being made redundant.
Judge Heath told Henry: “You can be charm personified, but if things don’t suit you or go your way you resort to violence.”
CONVICTED (2012) | Matthew Anthony Cox, born 12 October 1985, previously of Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, but as of November 2020 living at Polden Close, Oldham OL8 3WN – let his Labrador puppy drink vodka causing him to become gravely ill
Matthew Cox was at home drinking with his flatmate when the dog, known as Max, drank the vodka after Cox supposedly went outside. The court heard that Cox did not deal with Max because he was himself too drunk.
The dog was later taken to an emergency vet for treatment and after his recovery was rehomed.
Cox then left Max with his flatmate, even though the puppy was swaying, before going out to DJ.
Prosecutor Maria Moore told the court two girls saw Max that evening falling over and staggering about near shops close to Cox’s then home at Rathvale Court in Chilwell, Nottingham, and called the police.
The dog was removed by officers because they were so worried about his health.
Mrs Moore said: “Due to the state of the dog the police officer, being an animal lover himself, took the dog to the emergency vet.”
She said that Max, who Cox had owned for about three-and-a-half months, was immediately put on an intravenous drip for eight to 10 hours to flush the alcohol out of his system.
The puppy needed another 12 hours on a drip the next day to restore him back to full health.
Cox pleaded guilty to failing to ensure an animal’s welfare and was disqualified from keeping or owning a dog for three years and given a two-year conditional discharge.
Magistrate J A Smith said: “It was not malicious – there were no weapons – it was just downright stupid, wasn’t it?
“This could have had desperate consequences for him – a motor accident or anything.”
Speaking after the hearing, RSPCA inspector Chris Shaw said Max’s case was the first of alcohol poisoning that he had seen.
“It’s such a shame what’s happened to the dog but he’s been found a good home now and the owner has been punished.”
Sentencing: conditional discharge. Three-year ban on owning a dog (expired 2015).
