#MostEvil | Reece Coney, born 11 January 1998, of Wye Avenue, Bridgwater TA6 5DG – trampled his ex-partner’s cat to death in vile revenge attack
Coney saw the cat, known as Pedro, in a supermarket car park and took him to the Quantock Hills where he put him in a shopping bag and repeatedly stamped him underfoot.
A judge at Taunton Crown Court said it had been a targeted attack designed to deliberately distress his ex.
He said: “This was an absolutely disgraceful offence.
“It was malicious, deliberate activity and beyond the pale frankly, and it was targeted.”
Prosecutor Ms Lucy Taylor said the defendant, a delivery driver, had been in a relationship with Pedro’s owner.
Following the split, she had left the animal in the care of a relative but when she returned was told he had disappeared. She printed posters and displayed them in the neighbourhood but there was no sign of him.
Six months later, in November 2019, she received a message from the defendant’s latest partner to say the defendant had killed the cat by strangling and stamping.
She said Coney had seen the cat while at Asda and put him in the footwell of the car. He had told his partner to drive to Cheddar so he could throw him off the cliffs. She had refused but instead, and out of fear, agreed to drive to the Quantock Hills.
When they got there Coney took the animal outside and killed him with his foot, she said. He then buried the bag under some weeds.
Pedro’s body was never found.
Ms Taylor said the defendant messaged his ex to try and persuade her not to go to the police.
“There was clearly evidence of planning. It seems to have been a revenge attack on what is termed his ex partner’s property but was her pet cat.”
Coney pleaded guilty to an offence of criminal damage. The offence carries a maximum of three months in prison.
When police arrested him he initially blamed his latest partner for taking the cat and he had simply released it into the wild.
Mr Harry Ahuja, defending, said Coney had initially been too embarrassed and ashamed to admit what he had done.
“It was a disgraceful act on his part to take someone’s pet and treat in that manner,” he said.
Coney had been in a toxic relationship at the time which was now over.
He said the defendant had matured since the incident and feared going to prison. He has no previous convictions.
Sentencing: 12-month community order with 60 hours of unpaid work; £200 court costs and £600 compensation to Pedro’s owner. 20 rehabilitation days. No ban on keeping animals was imposed with the judge stating that he was “not sentencing [Coney] for an animal welfare offence” despite it being “part of it”.
Absolutely Heart Breaking.
Another mentally disturbed scum.
He won’t have no luck for what he has done.
Yet another pathetic sentence.
This man should have been jailed and banned from going near animals and owning any animals. The judge besides should be fired for his actions not to prosecute this human worthless man. This is sending out wrong messages. Shame on the judge. I am loosing faith of humans
This man should be jailed snd banned from keeping an animal fir life! He is disgusting! Who will be next. A child?
The RSPCA should take up this blatant animal cruelty case and the Judge’s sentence should be reviewed. There is no point in allowing him to get off in this way . His ex (Pedro’s owner)must be so concerned that he could have attacked her as well as murdering her cat as he was obviously so angry.
Pets are not inanimate property but living sentient beings .
He must be banned from keeping pets and put on animal cruelty list like the sex offenders list as well as going to anger management classes. He needs to be watched and any future girlfriends be warned of his behaviour.
I totally agree but the RSPCA act to bring prosecutions in cases of animal cruelty, and as this demonic, sub-human has already been prosecuted, there is nothing more they can do. On the other hand, the judge needs locking up for not doing his job!
Psychopathic nasty individual – this is how it starts – beware family future partners and friends.
What a vile piece of human flesh.How is this man walking the streets,god help his future partner she could and maybe quite possibly be the next!
This man isn’t dangerous. The Court and justice system royally screwed him over, along with his lawyer. There was advise to retract the non guilty plea to avoid possibly losing a trial. Is anyone going to ask questions to the woman who hated the cats owner and coincidentally drove him to the area? I am grievously sorry that this awful disgusting story has reached people’s eyes, and also to the cats owners. I cannot imagine the pain, not in a million years.
Please, I urge people to ask the real questions and do some research. This mans life has been ruined by no fault of his own..
Are you completely nuts ??? If his life is ruined it’s because he is a vile piece of scum with no excuse for his spineless , cowardly act ! The only cats he should ever have contact with are big ones , throw him in a lions enclosure , make sure they haven’t eaten for a while . Whatever ‘toxic’ relationship he had
with an ex is no excuse whatsoever to take it out on another being , animal or human !
No fault of his own? No one forced him to kill my cat, no one forced him to shove my poor baby into a carrier bag and suffocate him. No one made him take his coller off and put it down a drain, or made him pick Pedro up in the first place, or perhaps he thought because we weren’t together and he had some vendetta against me after cheating on me with his ex being the reason I broke up with him. So no, he ruined ‘his life’ all by himself.