#MostEvil | Christopher Dennis Collyer, born 12/09/1983, with a last-known address of Aldcliffe Court, Morecambe LA4 4TW – strung up an ‘unwanted’ springer spaniel by his lead and left him to slowly choke to death.
Father of multiple children Collyer was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to Charlie by hanging him from a pipe inside a stone bunker in woods in Keighley, West Yorkshire, leaving him to strangle to death.
Nigel Monaghan, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court the vet who examined Charlie after his death confirmed his death would not have been ‘instantaneous’ and said he was also suffering from a chronic skin condition.
The court heard that Collyer had been given the dog by his parents, Mandy and Ian Collyer, who were moving house and could not take Charlie with them.
The dog was found hanging in a concrete bunker in Hainsworth Woods, Keighley, by a member of the public on June 10 2008.
A prosecution witness had previously placed Collyer there on June 7.
Mr Monaghan said: “This was appalling cruelty. It was a deliberate and what appears to have been a premeditated act by the defendant.
“What followed was what can only be described as a tissue of lies.
“In court he maintained his story that he had taken the dog for a walk, met a woman and given it to her.
“It is difficult to think of a worse example of animal cruelty given the degree of suffering he must have been subjected to.”
Collyer’s parents, Mandy Collyer and Ian Collyer of West Byland, Illingworth, Halifax HX2 9JU admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the animal by failing to provide veterinary care for Charlie’s skin condition.
Speaking about the case, the RSPCA inspector who found Charlie said it was the worst case he had seen in 15 years.
Inspector Dave Holgate said: ‘When I came across the dog hanging in the bunker, it was a horrific scene.
‘I’ve never seen anything like that in 15 years and I hope I never see anything like that again.
‘That poor dog must have suffered for a long time before it eventually died because its feet were just touching the ground.”
Sentencing
Christopher Collyer: 24 weeks in prison. Banned for life from keeping animals.
Mandy Collyer and Ian Collyer: community service. Banned from keeping pets for just three years (expired 2012).