CONVICTED (2022) | Stephen Phelps, born 1 November 1965, of Crawshay Place, Cinderford GL14 2EW – attacked his neighbour’s dachshund puppy, causing fatal injuries.

The attack happened following an incident earlier on the same night after which Stephen Phelps had been bailed for damaging another neighbour’s door.

A few hours after returning home he went into a neighbour’s flat and refused to leave – leading to a police siege during which he beat the puppy.

Gloucester Crown Court was told he was diabetic but had not been taking medication and had become delusional.

Prosecutor Alec Small said events began in the early hours of November 30, 2021, when police were called to the Crucible Road area of Cinderford following reports that a man armed with a knife and hammer had gone to a woman’s home, smashing glass in the door.

“Before the police arrived the man drove off but officers heading towards the incident spotted him driving in the opposite direction and gave chase,” said the prosecutor.

Phelps was eventually boxed in at traffic lights and police used a taser to arrest him. He was taken into custody but he was unable to be questioned due to his mental state and and returned home on bail.

“However, he was clearly agitated as he began to bang repeatedly on the shared wall with his neighbour, Susi Broadway,” the prosecutor said.

“This continued for some time, which made her dogs bark. At about 3.45am Mrs Broadway went outside to let her dog out and noticed that her neighbour’s window had been smashed.

“The banging continued when she went back inside. She decided to go to another neighbour who had also been woken up because of the noise of the banging and decided to go outside.

“Phelps then left his home and went outside, where there were now four neighbours trying to work out what was wrong with him. They said he looked like a zombie.

“Without warning he lashed out at his neighbours with a knife in his hand. The neighbours all retreated back to their own homes and called the police.

“After a short while Phelps reappeared from his home carrying a metal pole which he used to smash the windscreen of Mrs Broadway’s Mazda car.

“Phelps then entered Mrs Broadway’s home after she had gone outside to survey the damage to her car. She then began to fear for her dachshund puppies, which were eight weeks old.

“The police attended the address and they became involved in a standoff with Phelps for a number of hours which required the services of a trained negotiator to resolve the situation when he was removed from her property.

“When Mrs Broadway was allowed back into her home, she realised that one of the puppies had become unresponsive and it had to be euthanised by a local vet.”

The court was told that Phelps was taken to hospital where he had a number of unexplained injuries to his face. He was under police guard for 24 hours in the hospital, during which time he said: “I did it because they (the neighbours) did it to me the night before. I shot all the dogs and one did die.”

The prosecutor clarified that none of the dogs had in fact been shot, but one had been beaten and had to be put down.

Simon Kitchen, defending Phelps, said: “This was a self induced incident because he is a diabetic who was not looking after himself. He had become paranoid and delusional.

“Phelps has little recollection of being in his neighbour’s home. He may have stood on the puppy, but he believes that he didn’t intentionally do anything maliciously to it.

“Phelps had been on a Methadone prescription for 10 years and when he was remanded into custody he had to go cold turkey. He now feels much better having broken his addiction to Methadone.”

Phelps pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a dachshund puppy, using violence that ultimately led to her death on December 1, 2021 and criminal damage by smashing a car’s windscreen.

He also admitted having a knife in Gloucester Road, Coleford on November 30 and having a bladed article and a metal bar in Cinderford on December 1, 2021.

Sentencing 23 August 2022 (details obtained from court) | non-custodial sentence. Community order. No ban.

The Forester
Glos News