CONVICTED (2020) | Aaron Ray, born 29 July 2002, of Mayfield Road, Sunderland SR4 0NE – stabbed a pet cockatiel to death in a fit of rage.
Police mugshot of violent animal abuser Aaron Ray
Aaron Ray left the unnamed family pet with fatal injuries after plunging a knife into the back of her neck.
Northumbria Police officers found the deceased bird after being called to Ray’s home following reports of a disturbance. When questioned, Ray displayed an astonishing lack of remorse for his sickening cruelty, insisting “it’s just a bird”.
In court, Ray pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
PC Peter Baker, wildlife officer at Northumbria Police, said Ray’s conviction should act as a reminder that animal cruelty is a criminal offence.
He said: “Aaron Ray showed a total disregard for the welfare of this bird and inflicted catastrophic injuries that it could not survive from.
“This kind of behaviour is not only reckless and upsetting, but a criminal offence and that’s the lesson that Ray now must learn.
“We are a nation of animal lovers, so it is upsetting to come across incidents such as this where the defendant has caused inevitable and unnecessary suffering to an animal.”
Sentencing | 12-week custodial sentence, suspended for one year. 15-year ban from owning animals.
On 23 March 2023 Aaron Ray was jailed for life after being convicted of murder. He must serve a minimum of 22 years in prison.
Ray stabbed his lover, student Jason Brookbanks, after reading messages to other men on dating app Grindr. He then fled the scene leaving Jason for dead.
Sentencing Ray, Mr Justice Martin Spencer said the evidence showed Ray had been “possessive, jealous and violent” in previous relationships and was “deceitful, dishonest and when drunk, highly dangerous”.
CONVICTED (2015) | Anthony Peter Allan, born 08/03/1993, originally from Paisley, most recently of Kelvin Gardens, Hamilton ML3 9NR but as of February 2020 in prison for murder – punched and kicked a puppy on multiple occasions.
Allan carried out the attacks on the Staffordshire bull terrier pup when he was sharing a flat in Mossvale, Paisley with partner Lauren McMaster.
Depute fiscal Lauren McGonigal told the court: “The dog belonged to Lauren McMaster. It was a young pup.
“Miss McMaster described that, as the arguments between her and the accused worsened, he was taking his anger out on the dog.
“He would repeatedly kick and punch the dog.
“A neighbour who lived through the wall would hear the accused shouting at the dog, and hear sounds of the dog being chased around the property.
“Between January and the end of April she could hear the dog being hit and the dog yelping in pain.”
The depute fiscal added the attacks usually lasted for 15 minutes and happened when Allan’s partner left the flat.
The court heard how he was arrested after the police were called on April 27, 2014, when he behaved in a threatening and abusive way towards McMaster by shouting and swearing at her and threatening to kill himself.
When interviewed by cops he admitted he had been hitting the dog.
Allan pleaded guilty to repeatedly punching and kicking the dog and causing it unnecessary suffering and undue distress.
He also admitted a second charge of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner likely to cause fear and alarm by shouting, swearing and uttering threats.
When he returned to court to learn his fate, solicitor advocate Chris McKenna said that he had come from a troubled background in which his parents had failed to accept that their son had mental health problems.
As a result, his client described that time as being “a life of torture.”
Sentencing him, Sheriff Colin Pettigrew told Allan: “This utterly defenceless dog was the butt of your anger and suffered misery over a three-month period.”
Sheriff Pettigrew said that due to the serious nature of the offence, he could easily have jailed Allan, but had decided against that and gave him a community sentence instead.
He said: “You accept you repeatedly punched and kicked the dog causing it undue distress.
“Repeatedly – over a period of three months – undoubtedly the dog’s life was a misery.
“It was the butt of your anger, your temper, and was utterly defenceless in terms of your repeated assaults on it.
“I have no doubt that you should be disqualified from keeping or owning a dog indefinitely.”
Allan agreed to accept drug counselling after it was revealed he had a problem with cannabis.
Sentence: two-year community payback order with 270 hours of unpaid work in a 12-month period. Banned from owning or keeping a dog for life.
CONVICTED (2013) | Richard Canlin, born 24 August 1978, previously of Clay Cross, Derbyshire and as of 2018 of Elnor Street, Langley Mill, Nottingham – battered one dog to death in a series of vicious attacks and seriously injured another months later.
Canlin, who went on to be convicted of murder, subjected Staffy-type dogs Leyla and Daisy to ferocious beatings.
He initially denied causing the dogs’ severe injuries and claimed they had been involved in a road traffic accident.
But a vet said the injuries had been deliberately inflicted and Canlin later admitted five charges, during a hearing at Chesterfield Magistrates Court on May 1, 2013.
Daisy died a horrific death after enduring months of vicious brutality at the hands of her owner Richard Canlin
The body of Daisy was found in a holdall in Canlin’s cellar in 2012. She had suffered multiple head traumas and fractured ribs. It was also reported that she had been strangled. Canlin was also charged with failing to provide veterinary care for an eye injury.
Leyla had head injuries consistent with blunt force trauma
A second dog, Staffy-cross Leyla, was found four months later, cowering at the top of the stairs, suffering from head injuries.
The charges, of causing unnecessary suffering and failing to provide appropriate veterinary treatment, date from April to October 2012.
Brian Orsborn, prosecuting said the dogs had suffered deliberate blows to the head.
RSPCA inspector Nick Wheelhouse added: “This is an extremely horrific and disturbing case and it was horrendous to find the dog stuffed in a holdall and see blood on the floor.”
Felicity Clarke, defending, said Canlin suffered from psychopathic tendencies. She added: “At the age of nine or ten he was in care due to violence in the family and his parents were not able to cope with his behaviour. From that age he had been hearing voices and having blackouts.”
Ms Clark went on: “He has the lowest capacity of intelligence. 99 per cent of the population are more intelligent than him.”
Canlin said that he could not remember what had happened to the dogs but accepted he must have caused the injuries.
Sentencing:Canlin was sentenced to 23 weeks in prison and banned from keeping animals for life.
Source: Derbyshire Times (article removed)
Update | October 2020
Richard Canlin was jailed for life with a minimum of 22 years after being convicted of murdering his landlady and dumping her body in a wheelie bin.
Canlin had denied murdering Nicola Stevenson but was convicted at Hove Crown Court.
Jurors heard he carried out a “frenzied attack” on Ms Stevenson, striking her with a hammer no fewer than 11 times.
Her partially-decomposed remains were found in Lewes in November 2019.
The judge told Canlin he was “a consistent and persistent liar” who clearly had a moderate personality disorder.
Jurors heard how Ms Stevenson had emailed a police officer on 10 October, the day she was killed, asking for help because her lodger was “getting abusive”.
The judge told Canlin: “I feel that you were almost certainly jealous that she had a flat and was cared for by social services. You determined you were not going to leave.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Ms Stevenson’s mother Jennifer Ashby said her daughter’s death had been “an act of horror”.
Describing her daughter as feisty and determined, she said: “No parent should ever have to bury their child.”
After the hearing, Det Ch Insp Chris Friday said Ms Stevenson had allowed Canlin to stay at her flat in Stansfield Road and when she asked him to leave he took advantage of her kindness and attacked her.
He said: “He then carried on as if nothing had happened, assuming Nicola’s life, spending her money on things for himself, living in her property and telling friends she had gone away.”
CONVICTED (2009) | Shane Walker, born circa 1989, of Addlestone, Surrey repeatedly kicked and stamped on a dog’s head at a railway station.
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.
