CONVICTED (2023) | Mark Carson, born c. 1978, of Maythorn Avenue, Coleraine BT52 2EU – caught on CCTV kicking an elderly cat to death.
Carson pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to ginger cat Jasper on March 24, 2020.
The badly injured pet was found at the rear of a house on Maythorn Avenue and rushed to a vet. After examining the animal, the vet concluded the injuries were caused in a road accident.
However, when an animal lover checked CCTV at the rear of the houses, they spotted Carson kicking Jasper “approximately seven times”.
The footage showed him returning a few minutes later and “flipping it over with his foot”.
Carson did nothing to help the injured animal, instead walking back to his house.
Defence counsel Alan Stewart described the incident as “awful”.
He told the court his client was ashamed of his behaviour and had written a letter of apology to the cat’s owner.
He said Carson’s partner was extremely unwell at the time and was losing her sight, with the imposition of lockdown at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbating the family’s stress.
“He simply lost the run of himself, lost his temper and lashed out in anger,” he added.
Mr Stewart submitted that Carson had “already paid something of a price” over the last three years in terms of the effect on his mental health and from knowing how people in his community felt about him.
He continued: “He has been living almost as a hermit.”
The court heard Carson had been sent an anonymous letter threatening him with death forcing him to flee his home for his own safety.
More than 450 of his neighbours in the Maythorn Avenue area signed a letter calling on the courts to make an example of him.
District Judge Peter King said he had seen the petition. It described how “everyone in our estate is stressed and disgusted with this killing”, adding: “We do not need this person in our community.”
The judge quoted from it: “We hope that you [will] make an example of this terrible act by giving a custodial sentence….
He warned, however: “I think it’s important that I say from the bench that if anybody thinks taking the law into their own hands either assists the court in dealing with how this case is disposed of or in any way, shape or form can bring a modicum of comfort to [the cat’s] owners, they are sorely mistaken.
“I would absolutely urge everybody in cases of this nature to leave the police and the courts to do their job, otherwise that role becomes jeopardised and people quite frankly are putting their own liberty at risk.”
Judge King concluded: “The reason this case is of such concern is because cruelty to animals is a red flag to a whole raft of other issues.”
Sentencing | three-month custodial, Banned from having custody or control of any animal for 10 years.
Update | October 2023
On Monday October 9, 2023, Carson was finally sent to prison to begin his three-month prison sentence after his appeal was thrown out.
Dismissing Carson’s appeal at Coleraine County Appeal Court, Judge Fiona Bagnall said despite his protests that he didn’t mean to hurt the cat and “immediately felt terrible” about his actions, “I’m very sceptical about much of what he says.”
“Clearly this passes the custody threshold,” she told the court, “sadly this poor cat died as a result of his actions and he left it to suffer until some other person came along and picked it up and took it to the vets.
“He showed no empathy or humanity or compassion… he kicked it several times to the point of unconsciousness and with considerable internal injuries that ultimately caused it’s death,” said Judge Bagnall who concluded “I have no difficulty in upholding the sentence handed down.”
Defence counsel Alan Stewart told the court that Carson’s behaviour had been “totally horrible, totally unjustified and a cruel act” but he stressed that he was “an otherwise good man who had done a bad thing.”
“I’m sure that there’s a lot of people who go to prison that that has been said about,” the judge retorted however.
Mr Stewart argued that since the incident, Carson had “lived almost as a recluse” and had not come to any adverse police attention but in contrast, he himself had received death threats and online abuse.
“He doesn’t know what overcame him that day but he is absolutely and utterly disgusted and ashamed of his behaviour and of himself,” said the barrister, reminding the court that at the time it was the first week of the first Covid lockdown and describing how Carson’s partner had to keep herself away from her family as she was working in Covid wards.
Although it was not fully opened in court today, Judge Bagnall heard there had been a petition from local residents who had lived near Carson.
The earlier court heard it had been signed by over 470 people who had called for Carson “to be made an example of” and which outlined how “everyone in our estate is stressed and disgusted with this killing — we do not need this person in our community.”
Jailing Carson, Judge Bagnall said “nothing justifies him receiving death threats or intimidation but this is a very serious case… kicking several times with a shod foot can be construed as using a weapon” and as gratuitous violence.
Accordingly, she dismissed the appeal and affirmed the three month jail sentence.
