CONVICTED (2015) | Paul Carroll, born 24/07/1963, of Mitchell Street, South Moor, Stanley, County Durham DH9 7BQ – drowned his dog and dismembered her body, then blamed black magic for her death.
Carroll held Bedlington terrier Molly underwater in a bath, then tried to bury her at the Hat and Feather Inn pub near Consett.
Fearing the dog’s remains would be discovered, he cut her body up in to a number of pieces and put it down the drain at the back of the property. Molly’s dismembered body was found by drainage workers called to unblock it.
RSPCA inspectors and police removed a further three dogs and a snake from the house, which was littered with excrement, once the investigation was launched in January 2015.
Margaret Carroll, born 04/07/1954, of First Street, Watling Street Bungalows, Consett DH8 6HW, was originally charged with helping her husband drown the dog but was later cleared. She is currently serving a four-year jail sentence for starting a fire at the family home, alongside daughter Katrina Livingstone, born 26/08/1977, of the same address, in an attempted suicide bid.
Sentence: 18 weeks’ custody, suspended for 12 months, supervision order. Banned from keeping animals for ten years (expires February 2025).