CONVICTED (2015) | Jack Delaney, born 27 May 1993, previously of Haslingden, Rossendale, Lancashire but more recently (March 2021) of 607 Blackburn Road, Rising Bridge, Accrington BB5 2SB – caught on camera terrorising and beating a subdued dog
Convicted drug dealer Delaney, who as of late 2019 had racked up 15 convictions for 32 offences. was captured on a neighbour’s tablet computer “punishing” the two-year-old bulldog named Biggy during an outburst that lasted five minutes.
The footage shows Delaney slapping Biggy before picking him up and throwing him against his back gate. He then drags the dog into a back street and kicks him repeatedly.
It seems that steriod abuser Delaney had battered his pet several times before and by all accounts the dog was terrified of him.
An RSPCA prosecutor had been called to Delaney’s home in April 2014 after receiving reports from several different people of his violent treatment of the dog. No legal action was taken at this point.
In July 2014 another inspector attended Delaney’s home again after concerns a dog was being beaten at the address.
Delaney told the inspector the animal had escaped, run across the road to attack another dog and he had hit him to discipline him, as he claimed nothing else worked.
Just four days later, a neighbour of Delaney’s was at her kitchen window when she witnessed him hurl a torrent of abuse at the dog and punch him. The animal didn’t react, but appeared terrified, the witness said.
Delaney was then said to have hit the animal, with what appeared to be a piece of wood, three to five times and the dog didn’t make a sound.
She heard another neighbour shouting at the defendant, telling him to stop hitting the dog. The prosecutor said : ‘She describes the incident as seeming to go on forever.’
Police were called and spoke to Delaney and the neighbour who made the recording.
Two weeks after the film was made, Delaney went round to the neighbour’s home and emptied his bins on her front garden, the court heard. Police later seized the dog.
When interviewed by officers, Delaney said he’d owned Biggie since he was six weeks old and described his temperament as ‘perfect.’
He said he couldn’t remember much about the incident and added: ‘He was pissing and shitting in the house and I have ended up twatting him.’ He admitted throwing water over the dog and ‘banging him off the fence.’
Delaney accepted what he had done was wrong and said he had lost his temper. He has now signed the dog over to the RSPCA.
Delaney’s solicitor said her client had started using anabolic steroids which “brought out that appalling, aggressive manner.’
The solicitor told the hearing Delaney, who has learning difficulties, Aspergers Syndrome and ADHD and receives disability living allowance and employment support allowance, had not been taught how to house-train the dog.
Sentencing: 18-month community order, with 18 months’ probation supervision and 60 hours’ unpaid work. £1,400 boarding costs to the RSPCA, £330 compensation,£60 statutory surcharge. Banned from keeping dogs for a pitiful two years (expired 2017).
CONVICTED (2015) | David James Nellist, born 17/02/1977, of Brunswick Square, Penrith CA11 7LS – caught on CCTV punching and kicking a cowering dog before throwing her against a wall.
Former restaurateur David Nellist was caught on CCTV punching and kicking a terrified dog
Drunk David Nellist flew into a rage with black Labrador/Spaniel crossbreed Coco and was captured ‘relentlessly pursuing, punching, kicking and picking up by the throat and throwing’ her.
Coco’s howls of pain woke a neighbour who traced the noise to Nellist’s nearby restaurant and called the police.
Nellist admitted causing unnecessary suffering to Coco by subjecting her to unnecessary physical violence.
The court was told the incident took place early on Monday, January 19, 2015, at the restaurant Nellist then co-owned in Keswick.
RSPCA inspector Martyn Fletcher said: “A neighbour was awakened in the middle of the night by a noise that she described as ‘an animal in extreme pain or distress.
“It wasn’t a bark but a scream. It sounded like it was being tortured.
“She told us the sound continued intermittently, causing her to be so concerned that she actually got up, left her home and followed the noise to the restaurant. This was 3.30am.”
CCTV footage from several interior cameras showed Nellist beating the dog.
Over a period of about 15 minutes he’s seen interacting with her, she’s jumping up at him looking like she wants to play, then he punches her.
RSPCA inspector Fletcher said: “There is no audio recorded on it, but it’s horrible to watch.
“He’s seen pursuing her relentlessly as she moves from room to room, clearly frightened and trying to get away from him.
“He repeatedly punches her, kicks her and on two occasions picks her up by the throat and throws her across the room onto the ground.
“It’s not difficult to imagine what might have happened had it not been for the actions of the neighbour.”
Police were called to the restaurant but left after finding no obvious injuries to the animal.
The RSPCA was called and after viewing the footage, Coco was seized by police on veterinary advice and placed in RSPCA care.
Coco suffered no physical injuries during the attack by her drunken owner and was rehomed.
On examination, the vet found no injuries but prescribed anti-inflammatory drugs based on what she had seen on the footage.
In mitigation, Workington Magistrates court heard that Nellist was drunk at the time and was appalled by his actions.
A police spokeswoman said the incident occurred on the final day that Nellist worked in the restaurant, and he has since sold all his shares.
Coco has been rehomed.
RSPCA inspector Fletcher added: “I’ve seen her since and she’s like a different dog. She’s got a fantastic owner who has another dog too, and they’ve become great friends. She’s a really cheeky girl.”
Sentencing: two months in prison, suspended for 18 months; ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work and pay court costs of £1,580. Five-year ban on keeping animals (expired April 2020).
CONVICTED (2015) | Stacey Louise Dick, born c. 1992, who also uses the names Louise Greer and Stacey Simcox, of Egerton Court, Barrow-in-Furness LA14 – left her four pet cats to die after moving out of her flat; has breached ban on keeping animals twice
Stacey Louise Dick, also known as Louise Greer, abandoned four cats to starve to death and as at January 2019 has breached her 15-year ban on keeping animals twice.
The animals all died from multiple organ failure after going without food, and investigators found their lifeless bodies ridden with maggots and fleas.
The neglect occurred between June and September 2014.
RSPCA investigators did not find any food or water in the house, with vets later confirming that none of the cats had been fed for a significant amount of time.
Dick admitted abandoning them when she moved home and claimed that she visited occasionally to feed them.
The court heard how after discovering three of the four cats had died during one visit, Dick left their decaying bodies and the one surviving animal.
She was banned from owning pets for 15 years after allowing pets Rosie, Mojo, Daisy and Cheryl to perish in her home.
Speaking at the time, RSPCA prosecutor Steven Marsh explained how the animals were decomposing, with some missing eyes and riddled with fleas and maggots.
She argued she had not understood the conditions of the ban and was handed a 12 month community order and tasked with completing 50 hours of unpaid work.
In January 2019 Dick was jailed for just eight weeks after pleading guilty to breaching the ban for a second time.
Original sentence for starving the cats: 18 weeks in jail. Banned from keeping any animal for 15 years (expires April 2030).
CONVICTED (2015) | Sarah Jane Reeves, born 23/11/1995, of Frobisher Drive, Swindon SN3 3HB – owner of a kitten that was beaten and starved to near death
Reeves owned a six-month-old kitten. Tilly, who was starved to a third of her body weight and beaten at a home in Haydon Wick
Tilly was ‘clearly dying’ when the RSPCA were called to a property in Speedwell Close and found her under a blanket on the sofa, cold to the touch.
The authorities were only alerted after Reeves discovered a friend had been filmed throwing the tiny cat against the walls of her home.
Despite being rushed to a nearby vet, Tilly was beyond help and had to be euthanised on humane grounds.
Tanya Jones, prosecuting, told the court: “RSPCA inspector Miranda Albinson was informed a cat at an address in Swindon had allegedly been beaten two days previously.
“She was told that there was video footage of the incident.
“She could see the cat was emaciated and looked skeletal.
“Her ribs and hip bones were protruding, and the cat was clearly dying.
“The surgeon would have expected a cat that age to weigh about two to three kilogrammes, and in his opinion, it is not something we would expect to happen over a few days.”
Terry McCarthy, defending Reeves, said much of the punishment meted out to the kitten was not her fault.
Sentence: community order for 12 months, with six months’ supervision and 100 hours of unpaid work; £500 in courts costs and £60 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping any animals for 10 years (expires April 2025).
CONVICTED (2015) Kevin Dixon, born 23/03/1980, formerly of Newsome, Huddersfield and more recently Field Road, Holmfirth HD9 1EJ – axed a neighbour’s dog to death
Self-employed joiner Kevin Dixon pleaded not guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an Akita-type dog called Tempa but was convicted after a trial.
Tempa
He was accused of slashing the pet seven times after the dog, who it was claimed had a history of biting people, bit a woman at a house party. The dog belonged to grandmother Amanda Hamer but Dixon had been walking him twice a day for her after she suffered a severe whiplash injury.
On May 16, 2014, Miss Hamer decided to have a social gathering at her home in Newsome, Huddersfield and invited Dixon.
The prosecutor told the court the dog bit a woman in the face.
The RSPCA was contacted and their advice was to take Tempa to a vet on the following Monday morning to be euthanised. However rather than follow that advice Dixon decided to take matters into his own hands. He said he would take Tempa for a walk but gave no indication of his motives.
Approximately an hour later the defendant returned to the property without the dog.
The court heard Miss Hamer asked where her dog was and Dixon replied: “I have done what needed to be done”.
He then mentioned an axe and said: “It felt good, it was not easy, it struggled”.
The court heard the pet’s owner was shocked and moved away from him.
The matter was reported to police but when officers contacted he told them he had given the dog to a passer-by. However, when he was arrested on May 19, 2014, he admitted killing Tempa and took officers to where he had buried the dog.
In March 2015, Dixon was convicted of cruelty by killing the dog “in an inappropriate and inhumane manner” after the RSPCA were able to produce evidence showing that the dog had suffered. It wasn’t that Dixon had killed the dog but the way he did it.
Sentencing: 18-week jail sentence suspended for two years; curfew; costs of £1,500.
CONVICTED (2015) | Gavin Patrick Best, born 20/09/1982, of Avondale, Redbourn Way, Scunthorpe DN16 1NQ – left his pet Dalmatian in squalor and without food or water
RSPCA prosecutor Rachel Taylor told the court how five-year-old Dalmatian Freckles had been left in squalor at Best’s home.
She said: “Officers attended the property after a tip-off from the public and entered the home.
“The inspector saw the dog verging on skeletal and very dehydrated.
“There were empty bowls in the kitchen with no water present.
“The living room floor was covered in faeces and shredded paper, which the dog had shredded out of boredom or hunger.”
The court heard how the property’s toilet bowl was empty, suggesting Freckles had been drinking from the toilet due to lack of water.
Freckles only weighed half the normal weight for her breed
A vet described Freckles as “a bag of bones covered in fur” and on the verge of emaciation at almost half her expected weight.
After four weeks, the animal’s body weight had increased by around 45%.
In mitigation, Sunny Dhinsa said the case was out of character for his client. He said Best had spent little time in the property due to work commitments.
He told the court: ”He has no track record of this sort of behaviour, so it’s surprising to me.
”He accepts that he behaved in a negligent manner and has co-operated throughout the case. He has no excuses, the reasons have simply been laziness, not having enough time, and lack of finances
Sentence: Ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work, fined £521.56, ordered to pay £63.90 in vets’ fees and a £60 victim surcharge. Banned from keeping all animals for 10 years (expires April 2025).
CONVICTED (2015) | Sean Lawton, born c. 1985, of Big Meadow Road, Upton, Wirral CH49 – left his Staffy in an empty property without food or water and surrounded by mouldy faeces for at least four days
Sean Lawton of the Wirral abandoned Staffy Sam without food or water in an empty property.
The court found that Lawton had failed to provide an adequate supply of food and water, appropriate care and supervision, maintain the dog’s body condition and provide a suitable environment.
Chris Murphy, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, told magistrates the animal welfare charity received a call from a concerned member of the public on October 24, 2014, after the dog, known as Sam, was spotted sitting on the inside window ledge of the property. In desperation Sam had had chewed through the brickwork of the wall and door in order to get to the window ledge to be seen.
The RSPCA placed paper seals on the front door and rear gate of the property. They were checked each day for the next four days but were unbroken, showing that no one had returned to the property.
Conditions inside the property where Sam had been abandoned by his owner
RSPCA Inspector Anthony Joynes – who had been feeding Sam through the letterbox during this time – entered the property with police and a vet on October 28, 2014, finding it to be in a state of “absolute squalor”.
Mr Murphy told magistrates the property smelled so strongly of ammonia that it “stung the eyes” of those who entered.
No food or water was to be found anywhere in the property.
Sam was taken to a vet, who gave him a body score of just 2 – one being emaciated and five being obese. He weighed 15.3kg when he should have been at least 18.5kg.
Mr Murphy said: “The vet anticipated the dog had been in this condition for four days but due to the amount of faeces, which had gone mouldy, believed the dog had been left alone for longer, at least a week to 10 days.”
The man who left Sam to starve to death was identified as Sean Lawton. Lawton had tried to sell the dog on social media but in the end apparently chose to abandon him in an empty property to starve to death.
Dog abuser Sean Lawton pictured outside court
Lawton was convicted in his absence of animal cruelty.
Mr Murphy told the court that Lawton “said his child’s mother had left him and he was left with the dog.
“He said he had lived there since February 2011 and moved out about two weeks before the dog had been taken by the RSPCA. He said he had no money and no way of getting there.
“He said he had left some food and water. He said it was a hungry dog. He accepted it was not acceptable to leave the dog and he knew it was wrong.”
He told police he was working ten hours a day and said he did not want to have the dog put down “because he was a good dog”.
Lawton, who was not represented by a solicitor, told the court: “I just did something stupid”.
Sam’s story was featured in Channel 5’s The Dog Rescuers. He programme showed him settling in to his new forever home.
Sentencing: 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months. Ordered to complete 160 hours of unpaid work and pay £1,000 in costs. 10-year ban on keeping animals with right of appeal after five years (expires April 2025).
CONVICTED (2015) | breeder Deborah Fuller, born c. 1960, of 52 Harwich Road, Lawford, Manningtree CO11 2LS – dragged a Ridgeback dog behind a vehicle, causing painful injuries to his paws, legs and chest.
Deborah Fuller pictured outside court in 2015
Fuller, who ran her breeding operation under the names Nyuki Ridgebacks and Hamilton Stovare, was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to the Ridgeback, known as Tango, by not taking him to a vet and failing to take steps to keep him secured safely within a vehicle. She had denied the charges.
Tango had suffered numerous painful injuries after being dragged behind Fuller’s car
The court heard that in June 2014 Tango was dragged behind a moving car for about 400 metres as onlookers shouted until the vehicle stopped. The court heard that Fuller was driving the car through roadworks on the B1066 near Long Melford when she was seen by tree surgeons.
Hazel Stevens, representing the RSPCA, said: “One became aware of a green car driving through the traffic light area and the sound of something being dragged.
“As the car passed him he saw it was a dog behind the car.”
The tree surgeons shouted at Fuller to stop and vehicles tooted horns.
Ms Stevens said: “She didn’t stop until she passed the end of the single carriageway. They thought the defendant was not behaving in a normal way and insisted the dog should see a vet.”
The tree surgeons took the vehicle’s registration number and called the police, who alerted the RSPCA. Two police officers and RSPCA inspector Sam Garvey went to Fuller’s home later that day, but were refused entry.
Fuller was found in an outbuilding with one-year-old Tango, who had bandages on his paws. He had injuries to the pads of all four of his feet on which a layer of skin had been removed. He also had grazing to his chest area and a deep wound to his elbow and leg.
Tango was seized and taken to a vet. From there he went into a foster home where he made a good recovery after eight weeks.
Det Con Michael Evans said Tango looked scared, and that cuts and grazes could be seen on his body and paws. He asked Fuller if he could take the dog.
“She became quite abusive and really tugged on the dog quite hard, making me feel uneasy,” he said.
She was then restrained by officers and Tango was taken away.
Convicting Fuller, the chairman of the bench said: “We believe a reasonable person in control of three large dogs would ensure they were properly secured to ensure safety of the dog – either by a harness or cage.”
“You had many options available to you to seek treatment – first of all, the vets you had just visited or numerous other local vets, including the one the tree surgeon advised you of,” he said.
“But you chose to continue home. We believe for whatever reason, known only to yourself, you had no intention of getting veterinary treatment as a matter of urgency.
“We do not accept your reason for delaying treatment as reasonable.”
Sentence: £3,000 costs, 12-month community order, two-month curfew .The court also allowed confiscation of the 27 Ridgebacks owned by Fuller and already in RSPCA care following welfare concerns*. Five-year ban on owning animals (expired April 2020).
*Fuller had previously been the subject of complaints from neighbours about noise and faeces and the RSPCA had seized 44 dogs from her property on welfare grounds, alleging that many of the dogs were emaciated and one had a facial tumour. That confiscation was later judged to be unlawful because the RSPCA did not have the correct warrant. Because of her conviction in relation to Tango, however, Fuller did not get her dogs back.
Update | June 2021
Fuller was prosecuted again after it was discovered that she had breached her ban on keeping animals.
She was also found to have committed further animal welfare offences with one of her dogs, Wizard, struggling to walk with a deformity of the lower right foreleg which was swollen. In addition he had a large mass causing him pain and was later put to sleep on veterinary advice due to having a bone tumour.
In all, ten dogs were found at Fuller’s property, all of whom were being kept in atrocious conditions.
Fuller received a three-month curfew to be monitored electronically and a 20-day Rehabilitation Activity Requirement. She was also fined a total of £490 and ordered to pay £5,000 costs. She was further disqualified from keeping all animals for three years (expires June 2024).
A second defendant, Keith Barton, born 3 March 1960, of Mwafrica Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Santon Downham, Suffolk, was found guilty of aiding, abetting and counseling or procuring Deborah Fuller to breach her disqualification order. He was sentenced to an 18-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay £625 costs.
Fuller was jailed for 34 weeks after she was found to have locked a dog in a cage with cable ties. She pleaded guilty to six offences of breaching a disqualification order, relating to three dogs, two cats and six horses.
Colchester Magistrates’ Court heard that during a warrant of Fuller’s home in February 2022 two dogs – a Rhodesian Ridgeback and a Basset Hound – and a cat were removed from the property. The warrant was carried out with police following reports that she was in breach of a ban imposed on her in April 2021.
Persistent animal abuser Deborah Fuller’s latest breach of her disqualification order related to three dogs, two cats and six horses, with some or all of the pets being subjected to cruelty and neglect
The Basset Hound was found in a caravan tethered on a short metal chain inside a cage, which had been shut with cable ties.
RSPCA inspector Caroline Richardson said: “There was no water, no food, not even an empty bowl where the dog may have had water. There was torn-up bedding piled up underneath the dog. “The dog was unable to move properly due to the chain.
“He could not access all of his crate as his chain held him to one end, and even when sitting up at the end he was confined to, the chain pulled taut against his fur.
“The dog would not even have been able to turn around without some difficulty, and made no attempt to do so while we were there.”
Documents found at the home also led the RSPCA to locating horses being kept at a local livery yard which Fuller jointly owned with another person. Three of the horses were kept in a field in Woodbridge.
The court heard that the RSPCA carried out another check of Fuller’s home in October. An inspector found she had hidden a cat under her bed and a Jack Russell was also found upstairs.
As well as the prison sentence, she was given an additional seven-year ban on keeping animals and ordered to pay costs of £1,000 and a £127 victim surcharge.
