Tag Archives: career criminal

Hetton-le-Hole, Tyne and Wear: Alan Smith

CONVICTED (2012) | violent career criminal Alan Smith, born 26/03/1981, previously of Hebburn, South Tyneside, but as of 2020 living at 43 The Avenue, Hetton-le-Hole DH5 9DQ – abandoned two dogs to starve to death in atrocious conditions

Evil dog killer Alan Smith formerly of Hebburn, South Tyneside

When bailiffs forced their way into Alan Smith’s flat to serve an eviction notice, they found his mastiff Sam lying dead in a living room surrounded by dog dirt and rubbish.

They also found an emaciated Staffordshire bull terrier called Lily in the room, who had only survived by eating flesh from the dead dog.

The bailiffs called in the RSPCA who took the surviving dog to a vet and had a post-mortem examination carried out on the mastiff. This revealed both dogs had been starved of food and water for about a month.

The floor of Alan Smith's Hebburn flat was encrusted with faeces, waste littered the furniture and the corpse of a dog named Sam lay rotting in the doorway.
The floor of Alan Smith’s Hebburn flat was encrusted with faeces, waste littered the furniture and the corpse of a dog named Sam lay rotting in the doorway.

Smith appeared by videolink as he was already serving a three-year prison sentence for an unrelated crime.

No charges were brought regarding Lily, after Smith told magistrates she belonged to his girlfriend.

Denise Jackman, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said: “When the bailiff opened the door to the living room, a small dog ran out and went to the toilet to drink water.

“A large emaciated dog was dead in the corner of the room. The smaller dog had been living off the corpse, as half of its face was missing.

“The room was strewn with faeces, empty beer cans and other rubbish. Both dogs were almost skeletal.”

Staffy Lily survived by feeding on the carcass of her starved mate
Staffy Lily survived by feeding on the carcass of her starved mate

Speaking about the case after sentencing, RSPCA inspector Claire Hunt said: “This was an extremely shocking case that upset everyone who dealt with it.”

“This dog died an awful death, deprived of the most basic of things, food and water, for up to a month. The fact that the other dog survived such a horrendous ordeal is a miracle.

“The room they were in was covered in faeces and urine, beer cans and other rubbish and there was a chewed up sofa. She was literally living off the flesh of her mate. When the bailiffs opened the door she shot out of the room and started to drink from the toilet.

“Happily, she is now with new owners and having the kind of life she always deserved.”

Sentence: jailed for 17 weeks, banned from looking after animals for 10 years (expired February 2022).

Huffington Post
Four legged friends (blog)


Update April 2020:

April 2020: Alan Smith was jailed for nine months after threatening a woman with an axe. Headcase Smith was taken into custody following a three-hour stand-off with armed police. In addition to the prison sentence, Smith was given a five-year restraining order.

Plymouth, Devon: Matthew West

#MostEvil | Matthew West, also known as Matthew Ryan, born 06/02/1990, a career criminal originally of Embankment Road, Plymouth PL4 9HX, but with links to Camborne, Cornwall – kicked and dragged a Staffordshire bull terrier; the dog’s leg had to be amputated and she lost the sight of one eye

West kicked and dragged five-month-old Staffy Tia so severely that one of her hind legs was badly broken and later had to be amputated.  The court heard that Tia was also found to be blind in one eye, had symptoms of mild concussion and had grazes over her body.

A  passer-by saw West kicking and dragging the puppy down the street and alerted police.

Victim Tia

West gave evidence to say that the dog was already injured when he bought her for £250 a few days before. He denied kicking or dragging the dog and said he was just trying to get her to walk.

West’s lawyer said his client had a history of psychiatric problems.

West was found guilty and sentenced to 12 weeks in jail for the animal cruelty offence and banned from keeping animals for 25 years. He was given a further four weeks for a public order offence in which he  had threatened a female housing officer and said he would ‘burn the place down’.

Sentence: 12-week prison sentence; 25-year ban on keeping animals (expires September 2036).

Pet Abuse UK (blog)


Update 2018

In May 2018 West was jailed for 4 years for his part in an armed raid on a convenience store.

PlymouthLive

Carnwath, South Lanarkshire: Ian Turner

CONVICTED (2011) | Ian Gordon Turner, born 17 June 1984, of Main Street, Carnwath ML11 – cut off a Rottweiler’s tail while high on drink and drugs by trapping it in a door

Ian Gordon Turner
Drug and alcohol abuser Ian Gordon Turner added animal cruelty to his long list of criminal convictions.

Turner maimed the Rottweiler cross, Tyson, he had bought just three weeks earlier.

Unemployed Turner, who has tattoos on his face, has a string of previous convictions and was on probation when he attacked the dog in August 2010.

Tyson
Tyson was left in great pain with an untreated open wound on his tail. He recovered and was rehomed.

Despite being left with an open wound Tyson received no veterinary treatment. A Scottish SPCA inspector said that the dog had suffered greatly in the months since the tail docking.

Ian Gordon Turner

Turner avoided prison after Lanark Sheriff Court heard he has been attending drug rehabilitation and anger management courses.

Sentence: 180 hours of community service; 5-year ban on keeping animals (expired 2016).

Daily Record

Ilkeston, Derbyshire: Arran Chaplin

CONVICTED (2010) | Arran Patrick Chaplin, born 05/03/1990, whose family home is at Flamstead Road, Ilkeston DE7 5LS but as of July 2020 he may be living in the vicinity of Watnall, Nottinghamshire – threw two kittens out of a bedroom window to their death

Arran Chaplin social media image
March 2020 image of Arran Chaplin

Manic Arran Chaplin killed the kittens before punching his girlfriend in
the face, breaking her jaw. He then attacked her 12-year-old autistic brother who owned the kittens he had just killed.

Chaplin was already on bail for damaging a railway line when he flew
into a drug-addled rage at his girlfriend Sarah Bacon ‘s Derbyshire home.

Social media image of Arran Chaplin

Derby Crown Court heard that Chaplin had gone to Miss Bacon’s home to pick up some belongings when he began trashing his partner’s room, and threw the cats out of the window.

Sentencing Chaplin to 18 months, Judge John Wait described the killing of the two kittens and the subsequent beatings as “appalling”.

Source: Derby Telegraph (article removed).
See also: North West Hunt Saboteurs Vermin Patrol

Warwick, Warwickshire: Kelvin Hill

#MostEvil | Kelvin Hill aka Kieran Hill, born 26/07/1975,  as of 2022 of 12 Witton Road, Handsworth, Birmingham B6 5NY, but with links to Warwick, Bedworth and Nuneaton – killed a Labrador-cross puppy named Marley by smashing his head against the floor.

Career criminal Kelvin Hill from Warwick and with links to Nuneaton and Bedworth brutally killed a 5mo Lab-cross puppy named Marley
Evil career criminal Kelvin Hill from Warwick and with links to Nuneaton and Bedworth brutally killed a 5mo Lab-cross puppy named Marley. The photo of him with the dog above was from 2015 but it’s not known if the dog is his and where the dog is now

Gaynor Sutton, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told the court the incident happened on September 29, 2009, after Hill had called at the Nuneaton home of former partner Karen Harbour. He had asked her for money and stayed in the house alone while she went with her mother to a post office to collect child benefit.

When she returned, Ms Harbour discovered that the male puppy, called Marley – bought as a present for her seven-year-old son – was lying dead in the lounge. There was a pool of blood and urine on the floor and splashes of blood on cupboards in the kitchen.

In evidence, Ms Harbour said: “I was extremely upset. Kelvin Hill was upstairs and he denied having anything to do with it.

“When I said I was going to phone the police he jumped up and said he had killed my dog by taking it by its legs and smashing its skull against the kitchen floor.”

Marley suffered three fractures to the jaw, smashed teeth and injuries to the brain before dying in agony.

Magistrates heard how it would have taken up  to 15 minutes for the little dog to die.

Hill was already serving a prison sentence for aggravated burglary and refused to attend court to face the animal cruelty charge.

Sentencing: 20 weeks in custody (ran consecutively to his sentence for burglary). Banned for life on keeping animals.

Birmingham Post
Coventry Telegraph

In March 2017 career criminal Hill was sentenced to three years in jail for burglary. This is the mugshot released by Warwickshire Police:

Addlestone, Surrey: Shane Walker

CONVICTED (2009) |  Shane Walker, born circa 1989, of Addlestone, Surrey repeatedly kicked and stamped on a dog’s head at  a railway station.

Shane Walker

Career criminal Walker,  who went on to commit murder, admitted beating his auntie’s bull terrier Daisy, horrifying onlookers and leaving his pet whimpering.

Walker, then of Bridge Wharf, Chertsey, had been drinking in pubs in Surbiton with his cousin on September 25 2008 and was on his way home when the attack happened at 10pm.

Walker was seen punching, kicking and stamping on the dog, and witnesses were “clearly shocked and disturbed by the incident”.

He told police he had only drunk a few lagers but could not remember hitting the dog, or anything until he woke up in police cells the next morning.

Daisy was taken away from her owner and into the possession of the police on suspicion of being a banned breed. Her fate is unknown.

Defence solicitor John Sellars insisted Walker was only “play fighting” with the dog, but added: “Certainly there was a breach of the peace and he went a bit far.”

He said the dog had no serious injuries and was otherwise in a healthy condition.

Sentencing | Two weeks in custody to run concurrently with a sentence he was already serving for burglary, meaning he served no extra time for the animal cruelty offence. Banned from keeping any animal but allowed to apply to have the order lifted after 12 months.

Surrey Comet

Kingston upon Hull: Shaun Furgusson

#MostEvil | Shaun Andrew Furgusson, born 26/04/1981, as of December 2020 living in Spring Bank, Hull HU3 – stole a dog and tortured her over three days. Mongrel Chrissie died from her horrific injuries. Went on to steal another dog who was never found.

Shaun Furgusson and his victim, Chrissie
Shaun Furgusson and his victim, Chrissie, as found

Shaun Furgusson launched a motiveless attack on mongrel Chrissie, causing her to suffer brain damage, a punctured lung, five broken ribs and broken teeth. Part of her ear was cut off. Tragically she died shortly after being found by her owner.

During a horrific three-day ordeal Furgusson threw Chrissie at a television then kicked her, smashing five of her ribs. He went on to break one of her legs and bound it with wire. He then cut off one of her ears and attacked her with a hammer, smashing her teeth and shattering her skull.

Furgusson’s kitchen was said to resemble a slaughterhouse with blood everywhere.

2018 photo of Hull dog killer Shaun Furgusson
2018 photo of Hull dog killer Shaun Furgusson

Furgusson denied having seen the dog when asked by her owner, but later called her to say he had found Chrissie in the garden of a derelict house nearby. Poignantly, the dog was still breathing when her devastated owner discovered her next to a blood-stained flag but it was too late to save her and Chrissie died in her arms.

During his trial Furgusson, who at this point had a prior conviction for robbery, absconded from court but was re-captured. An additional two months was added to his four-month jail sentence for the animal cruelty offence.

Shaun Furgusson

In November 2007 Furgusson, one of four brothers, started what was described as a “wild west brawl” at a family wedding to which he wasn’t invited. His mother, Teresa ‘Dolly’ Furgusson – an education worker with East Riding – thought her son should be forgiven for torturing a dog to death, but other family members didn’t see it quite the same way. The brawl resulted in Furgusson and his mother being arrested and the bridesmaid and bride’s brother ending up in hospital.

In June 2010 a family with young children pleaded with Furgusson when the 14-year-old dog they’d had as a puppy disappeared after he burgled their home. The dog, named Bruno, was never found.

For the burglary offence Furgusson was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment at Hull Crown Court.

2021 police mugshot of Furgusson.
2021 police mugshot of Furgusson.

In December 2011 sad case Furgusson attacked his ex-partner from whom he had a restraining order. He turned up at the woman’s address armed with a knife and meat cleaver. He held the meat cleaver to his neck and threatened to harm himself. Fortunately he was stopped from doing the world a favour. For this offence he received an 18-month community order.

As at 2017, father-of-one Furgusson was living at a bail hostel in Hull but later moved into a property in Hutt Street, Hull, where neighbours report seeing him in a constant state of drunkenness and singing to himself.

Sentence for killing Chrissie: just four months in prison.

Newslinks:
BBC News


Additional information

Alternative FB: https://www.facebook.com/shaun.furgusson.77.

Furgusson’s family home was in St John’s Grove, Hull HU9, and his parents, Steve and Teresa Furgusson, lived there until quite recently. They are now believed to be in Canister Close HU9 3BU.

Furgusson has three brothers – Steven, Stuart and Seb – and a sister named Natasha. He has a teenage daughter.

While believed estranged from his family for several years (although his mother has always reportedly stood by him) recent social media photographs indicate that Furgusson has been welcomed back into the family fold.


Updates

December 2021: the Hull Daily Mail reported that Furgusson (incorrectly referred to as ‘Fergusson’ in the article) was jailed for three-and-a-half years after allowing a Liverpool county lines drug-dealing gang to use his home as a base for supplying heroin and crack cocaine.

The court heard that Furgusson, who started injecting amphetamine at the age of just 14, was spending £100 a day on drugs.

Furgusson, now with 58 previous convictions to his name, admitted being concerned in supplying heroin and crack cocaine and permitting his premises to be used for supplying crack cocaine.

He said that a group of Liverpool men moved into his home and told him that they would “feed him” drugs. He did not gain anything financially.