CONVICTED (2021) | Brian Buckthorpe, born c. 1956, of 90 Cannon Street, Lincoln LN1 1AG – breached his lifetime banning order; kept a guinea pig and rabbit in foul conditions; tried to hide evidence by attempting to flush the rabbit down the toilet.
Buckthorpe, who already had a lifetime ban on keeping animals for an unknown offence, kept a guinea pig named Clive in a cage so full of hardened filth and faeces his head touched the wire top. The guinea pig was in such poor condition with an untreated joint condition and lump on his anus, he had to be put to sleep.
As RSPCA officers were gathering evidence, Buckthorpe was heard repeatedly flushing the toilet. Investigators then discovered a “dripping wet” rabbit called Bright Eyes. It appeared that Buckthorpe had been trying to flush the rabbit down the pan.
Bright Eyes was taken in by an animal centre for rehoming.
Buckthorpe pleaded guilty to three offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
The court heard how he had struggled with mental health problems and gave him credit for his guilty pleas.
Sentencing: four-month custodial term, suspended for 18 months. He was ordered to pay £300 in costs plus a £128 victim surcharge. His lifetime ban on keeping animals will continue.
Lincolnshire Live
The Lincolnite
Update 11 January 2022
Buckthorpe was prosecuted in relation to the theft of a family dog: a young Staffy named Kelly. The dog was recovered and returned to her owner following a police investigation.
Despite already being on a suspended sentence for breach of a disqualification order, Buckthorpe left court with a further suspended sentence, this time for six weeks.
A Lincoln policing team said “our team share the public’s frustration with this decision”.
Thought I’d seen it all, this is a new level of low!!
Another Mentally Disturbed Scum.