#MostEvil | James Wright-King (aka James King), born 27 October 1997, of 28 Darwen Court, Hemlington, Middlesbrough TS8 9JF – inflicted multiple injuries on a puppy on separate occasions and eventually killed her. Girlfriend Jasmine Lee Smith, born 15 September 2001, of Raydale, Hemlington, Middlesbrough TS8 9SB failed to get treatment for the badly injured puppy.
James Wright-King was found guilty of causing unnecessary suffering to the seven-month-old pug puppy, known as Ruby.
His partner Jasmine Lee Smith, 20, was found guilty on two counts. Magistrates accepted she was not involved in the incidents but was found guilty of failing to provide a safe environment and failing to get vet treatment for the dog.
The court heard how the puppy endured multiple injuries before eventually dying. These included burns to her back, a broken femur, broken pelvis, numerous broken ribs on both sides, broken jaw on both sides, broken bones in her neck, a severely fractured skull and a lacerated tongue.
The court heard how the puppy’s recently deceased body was taken to a vets in Middlesbrough on November 17, 2020, by Wright-King.
He told the vet he had fallen on top of her while playing and heard her neck snap, the RSPCA reported.
But as the injuries were suspicious the dog’s plight was reported to the RSPCA, and inspector Krissy Raine was sent to investigate.
She was told Ruby was dead on arrival at the vets but must have died very recently as she was still warm.
Due to their concerns about the injuries they gave Ruby’s body an X-ray and she was found to have fractures to her neck, pelvis, femur and three ribs.
She also had a very deeply lacerated tongue which had been badly bleeding.
Krissy was told Ruby had also been seen by the vet in the past for lameness and a burn or scald injury.
An independent veterinary expert reviewed the injuries to Ruby as part of the RSPCA investigation and said up until her death she had been presented at different vets on a number of occasions.
In his conclusion he stated that he believed Ruby had been subjected to three blunt force traumas in her short life.
She also suffered a severe large burn injury on her back on August 24 which the defendant claimed was caused by an allergic reaction to soap.
However, the expert said he believed it had been caused by bleach being scrubbed along her back.
In a statement, the expert vet said: “Ruby was caused to suffer extreme pain and distress as a consequence of the multiple fractures and soft tissue injuries that she sustained as a result of at least three very violent blunt force traumas as well as the severe burns that were in my expert opinion also deliberately inflicted by Mr Wright-King.
“There is a reasonable question in relation to the final incident as to whether Ruby did suffer as a result of the skull fractures as the injury to the brain and spinal cord was so severe it is certainly possible and in fact likely that she was rendered instantly unconscious.”
Throughout interviews and the court case Wright-King denied causing any harm to the dog and when told by the RSPCA inspector that he would have to be interviewed under caution he said: ‘‘You’re joking, Ruby was like our child.”
Wright-King and girlfriend Jasmine Lee Smith had pleaded not guilty to the charges, claiming the injuries were accidental, but were convicted on all charges.
Smith was also convicted two offences of failing to follow veterinary advice concerning the leg injury and failing to provide a safe environment for the puppy.
Neil Douglas, mitigating for Smith and Wright-King, said they are in “very different positions”.
Mr Douglas said Smith had “some culpability” for the puppy but as she lived elsewhere “couldn’t be responsible for the animal as she wasn’t there all of the time”.
He told the court: “She is shaken to the core by this experience. She thought the dog was reasonably well cared for.”
Mr Douglas described Smith as a “law-abiding person” who works two jobs, one of which is at a golf club: “She is a normal 20-year-old caught up in something she would say she wasn’t aware of.”
Mr Douglas described Wright-King as well educated, but with an “awful upbringing” living in foster care during his teenage years. He told the court: “Nothing can justify what he did. He is someone who clearly shouldn’t be in charge of animals.”
Mr Douglas also asked for any prison sentence to be suspended as Wright-King was due to start working 12-hour shifts on the production line at SK Foods.
Following lengthy deliberations, the magistrates’ bench returned their verdicts, with the chair describing the case as one of the “most serious animal cruelty cases we have came across”.
Speaking after the sentencing hearing, RSPCA inspector Raine said: “Ruby was a young pup who was only two months old when the defendants acquired her and during the next five months she suffered multiple injuries. It’s so hard to comprehend the pain she went through.
“I found it a deeply upsetting case to investigate and the magistrates said in sentencing that they were horrified.”
Sentencing:
Wright-King – jailed for six months; £728 in fees and charges. Banned from owning animals for life with no right of appeal for 25 years.
Smith – 18-month community order, 10 rehabilitation activity requirement days; 150 hours of unpaid work; £695 in fees and charges.
10-year ban on keeping animals which cannot be appealed for five years.
So young but so evil.this pup died that sentence wasn’t long enough.dread to think what if a child had been involved.they were of course trying to hide it by going to diffrent vets.the pain that poor baby went through is hard to get my head around.she was just as bad by not reported it she must of seen how much pain the pup was in.or lucky he hadn’t knocked her around because am sure that will be the next thing on his agenda.that evil sh.t needs watching out for once released.
A 6 month jail sentence really isn’t long enough. That poor little dog must have gone through so much pain and agony in it’s short life. There should be a mandatory long term sentence for animal cruelty resulting in significant injury and death. Why weren’t any of the old injuries picked up by the professionals that had assessed and treated the dog on previous visits to different vets, maybe the poor little thing could have been saved.