CONVICTED (2022) | Paul Kennedy, born c. 1975, formerly of Oak Grove, Banbridge – subjected a tiny six-week puppy to an hours-long fatal attack.
Kennedy, a civil servant and football coach, walked free from court with a community sentence and five-year ban after admitting killing the unnamed puppy, whom he had bought for his son just days earlier.
The court heard how a neighbour had intervened after Kennedy was seen kicking the puppy. The neighbour took the tiny lifeless creature from Kennedy and wrapped her body in blanket.
When police arrived at the scene there were “no visible signs of injury” but the animal was “totally unresponsive and wasn’t breathing”, the court was told.
Kennedy told officers he had been trying to put drops into the puppy’s eyes when she bit him causing him to react in anger, twice kicking the helpless animal.
In court Kennedy’s lawyer Justin Byrne conceded the offence was “very unsavoury” but said it was a “moment of madness” by his client. He added that Kennedy is a civil servant as well as being a Gaelic and football coach and had made “a positive contribution to society”.
He said that Kennedy was going through an “acrimonious divorce” and the conviction could have repercussions for his football coaching job.
District Judge Eamon King told Kennedy: “You were seen kicking the dog not once but twice and you kicked it with such force that unfortunately the animal died.
“Cruelty to animals in this society does attract substantial media attention and I have no doubt that the fact of your plea of guilty and the sentencing today, that your name will be all over the local newspapers.
“You will have to live with that as society will judge you on what you did on this day.”
He continued: “Whilst this serious matter involved extreme force on an innocent animal, there’s nothing I can see on on your record or the papers before me which would tend to indicate that this is something you have a tendency towards.
“You will use the skills that you have [as a coach] for the benefit of the community by way of reparation for what you did.”
A witness to the killing expressed her anger over the woefully inadequate sentence. She said: “It wasn’t a harsh enough punishment, it’s shameful, people don’t get enough punishment for crimes like this and it’s disgusting.
“It was said in court about his mental health but a lot of people have mental health problems and don’t hurt animals.
“All throughout that day and the day before a few different people had been to the door to ask questions about what was going on because you could hear the dog crying so much.
“He said he was giving the dog eye drops but it didn’t make sense because the poor thing was so distressed. He used that excuse for a few days but why would eye drops be that painful for a dog?
“It was yelping constantly then at about 11 o’clock that night he was just kicking it around the garden, it was unbelievable.
“It was so small, it was a puppy miniature schnauzer, it could have fit in the palm of your hand it was so tiny.
“He had been making so much noise and by the time one of the neighbours got the dog off him the poor thing was dead. It was awful.
“He’d only had the dog a few days, he got it on the Wednesday and killed it on the Saturday.”
One local described Kennedy as “a very quiet person [who] kept to himself most of the time.”
They said that Kennedy had fled the area due to public anger and had arranged for relatives to empty his property. His current location isn’t yet known.
Sentencing | 200 hours of unpaid work. Five-year ban on keeping animals.
Additional Information
We have had it confirmed that Paul Kennedy is or was working in a voluntary capacity as a coach with Glenn GFC (Glenn John Martin GAC). We have sent them a link to our post and are awaiting confirmation that he will be let go.
He is/was employed by the Department for Communities Jobs & Benefits Office in Newry, where he deals with Universal Credit claimants. We have contacted his employer just in case they’re unaware of his conviction. As a Civil Servant Kennedy must abide by a strict code of conduct, which he has clearly breached.
His telephone number is 07923 575436.
An acquaintance of Kennedy’s told us that while they had never “witnessed any physical rage” from him, no one in their circle is surprised that he had killed a dog. The source added that Kennedy “always seemed to have a lot of built-up aggression and gave off a very intimidating demeanour”.
Absolutely disgustingly lenient sentence. His conviction could lose him his job ? Good that’s the whole point.