CONVICTED (2024) | Samuel Bodington, born 22 May 1990, of Aire Street, Goole DN14 5QE – strangled a chihuahua and attacked his girlfriend in a drug-fuelled rage.
Image credit: HullLive
Bodington’s girlfriend was looking after the female dog, known as Luna, because she had been cruelly mistreated by a previous owner. Following the vicious attack by junkie Bodington, the tiny pet was left with her tongue hanging out and became “very shaken and jumpy”.
Sentencing was originally imposed in July 2023 after Bodington admitted the intentional strangulation of his girlfriend and causing unnecessary suffering to her pet dog. He was given a 16-month suspended prison sentence but this was activated in late March 2024 after he repeatedly failed to attend appointments with the probation service.
Michael Forrest, prosecuting, told the original hearing that Bodington’s girlfriend had been looking after Luna.
Bodington arrived at her home in Goole at 7.30pm on April 21, 2023, for a party where everyone was drinking. He and his girlfriend took Pregabalin tablets obtained from a drug dealer.
“The defendant’s behaviour changed like a switch had been flipped,” said Mr Forrest.
Bodington became agitated and he was hallucinating and being loud and aggressive, causing the woman to become scared.
“She told him to leave but he didn’t leave,” said Mr Forrest.
Bodington began calling her names. She was lying on a sofa with the dog when Bodington launched himself at her and dragged them both to the floor. While they were on the floor, he took hold of her throat and the neck of the dog.
He squeezed the woman’s neck, causing her to gasp for air, and he held on to the dog’s neck, causing her tongue to hang out of her mouth.
The woman forced Bodington to release his grip. She alerted the police and Bodington was arrested.
“Luna was very shaken and jumpy,” said Mr Forrest. The woman later said that Bodington’s attack on her was unprovoked.
During the original hearing Judge John Thackray KC told Bodingonn: “Your behaviour on the evening in question was appalling. Your victim must have been terrified. The dog must have been terrified.
“This could have been so much more serious. Sometimes it only takes a few seconds from when someone is strangled to them losing consciousness.”
Sentencing | 16-month immediate custodial (previously suspended), Banned from keeping animals for just two years (expires July 2025).
CONVICTED (2024) | Rachel Louise Smith, born c. 1992, from Skirpenbeck, near Stamford Bridge, York YO41 – strangled her pet cat to death.
Smith, who is said to be mentally ill, is banned from having any role in owning or caring for animals for the rest of her life after pleading guilty to killing a cat named Chico.
RSPCA prosecutor Phil Brown told the court Smith had strangled the pet because he had urinated on her clothes.
Mr Brown said a mental health team had contacted Humberside Police after Smith told them she had shot the cat.
She later told an RSPCA inspector she had strangled him having “lost her temper” when he damaged her clothes.
Mr Brown said the RSPCA was aware of Smith’s mental illness and had prosecuted her so that she could be banned from having control of animals in future.
Smith’s solicitor Kevin Blount argued that Smith’s mental illness meant she had not dealt with the incident in the way someone who was not mentally ill would have dealt with it.
Mr Blount said she had been given the cat by someone who thought having a pet would help her with her difficulties.
“She soon realised that was not the case,” he said.
Mr Blount said the defendant had “complex psychiatric needs” and that she had a “very complex and tragic history”.
She had tried to arrange for the cat to be rehomed without success.
Smith was already working with health professionals to deal with her mental illness and the probation service could not help her, the court heard.
Her illness meant it was not possible for her to do unpaid work or be put under a curfew.
That left the judge with the choice of giving her a conditional discharge or a prison sentence, said Mr Blount.
District judge Adrian Lower said prison was not appropriate for Smith although he would normally consider jailing someone for killing a cat.
“There is no excuse for killing Chico,” he told Smith. “But I have to take into account your poor mental health as it was then and is now.”
Sentencing | three-year conditional discharge; £200 prosecution costs and £26 statutory surcharge. Banned from keeping, owning or caring for any animal for life but can ask for the ban to be reviewed after 10 years.
CONVICTED (2024) | serial animal abuser Liam Reece Aiden Swift, born c. 2001, of McCrea Park, Clogher BT76 0AE – killed two dogs and is suspected of the brutal slaying of a third.
Violent career criminal Liam Swift admitted cruelty offences after two dogs were found dead.
He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a dog on October 5, 2023, then to another dog on November 12, 2023.
Swift was under investigation for the death of a third dog who had been found with “horrific injuries” several months beforehand.
Dungannon Magistrates Court heard how Swift was arrested over a bail breach on November 11 and, because police knew he owned a dog, they attended his home to ensure she had food and water.
Officers found faeces everywhere and, when the dog didn’t appear, they began checking rooms.
The dog was discovered dead on a pile of rubbish in a cupboard, a chain tightly wrapped around her neck, cutting into the skin.
Then on November 15 police learned there was a second dead dog hidden in a hedge near Swift’s home.
A search revealed the decomposing body of a small dog wrapped in a blanket and placed in a bag.
Swift’s partner confirmed the small dog was hers and she had brought her to Swift’s home on September 23 while staying with him.
She claimed on October 5 another male arrived at the property and ecstasy tablets were produced, which fell on the floor, with her unnamed dog ingesting them.
The dog “became hyper” then fell asleep. However, she later noticed the dog was very wet and asked Swift if he had thrown water over her, which he denied.
The partner left the house for a time but later received a call from Swift claiming he couldn’t waken the dog and she “was in a bad way”.
On return she found the animal “cold and dead”.
She wrapped the dog in a blanket and the pair went outside to bury her. They had no shovel, however, so left the body in the hedge.
Two weeks after the death of this dog, the defendant purchased another dog, but contacted his partner on November 10 claiming he had run away.
The court heard: “This was the death of two dogs killed inside a month and the third dog within a year.
“There is already a live investigation into the death of another dog he allegedly killed in January 2023. Its injuries were horrific.”
A defence barrister said his client had a troubled and complex background. He said that while Swift had some family support, “that has been significantly displaced, particularly as a result of the visceral reaction from the community to these charges”.
“Those who operate outside the law have indicated to the defendant, in no uncertain terms, that he is not to return to his property in light of the views taken.
“Offending of this type will follow him around for the rest of his life.”
The defence conceded Swift is in breach of two suspended sentences but pointed out that neither relate to animal cruelty.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan remarked: “These dogs died horrible and potentially prolonged deaths. It was extreme cruelty to animals who do not deserve to be treated by anybody like that. Cruelty at its most apparent. It was appalling behaviour.”
The judge concluded: “It is my understanding that I can make the disqualification order banning owning any animal for life and that is what I will do. This man should not be around any animal going forward.”
Sentencing | eight-month custodial for the animal cruelty offences with a further two months added for the previously suspended sentences. Lifetime ban in relation to all animals.
Facebook animal welfare group Northern Ireland’s Voice for the Voiceless were contacted late last year by a Clogher resident after they published details of the Liam Swift’s prosecution. The resident set out in detail the nature of Swift’s cruelty to dogs.
CONVICTED (2024) | John Cameron Lindop, born 20 March 2000, of 7 Albion Hill, Epworth, Doncaster DN9 1HU* but with family links to Gainsborough, and Lucy Elizabeth Melrose, born 20 June 2000, of Hawthorne Road, Ferryhill DL17 9DP but originally from Gateshead – killed and burned a puppy and abused other animals in a campaign of horrific cruelty.
John Lindop and Lucy Melrose were convicted of a litany of cruelty offences against numerous animals including three dogs, one of whom was sadistically killed by one or both defendants, a chicken and a Shetland pony
John Lindop and Lucy Melrose committed a series of sickening offences against defenceless animals. These included killing a puppy and burning the remains, beating a second dog, riding a small lame pony, and setting a dog on a chicken while filming the carnage.
At the time the pair lived together in a flat in Fifth Street, Horden, County Durham.
It was said in court that the pair were in a tempestuous relationship and took out their frustrations on their pets.
Lurcher Max, who was described as subdued and withdrawn, had suffered injuries to his abdomen. He required treatment by the PDSA for muscular damage and other injuries
They appeared at Durham Crown Court on Friday 16 February 2024 and were given suspended prison sentences.
The crimes came to light following an RSPCA investigation led by Inspector Clare Wilson, which spanned two years and involved multiple animals.
The charity was first alerted to the couple in February 2022 when a member of the public contacted the RSPCA after bringing Max, a lurcher they had recently rehomed, into the PDSA Gateshead with injuries to his abdomen, and blood in his urine.
Inspector Clare Wilson said: “Max was very subdued and withdrawn, he was hanging his head and was attached to drips when I first saw him.
“I immediately noticed that his muzzle was very swollen as was his right side near his shoulder. There was blood visible in the white of his right eye too. I was told that he had been weeing blood.
“There was bruising visible on his abdomen and sheath and there were blood marks on his legs and I saw old scars on his rear legs near his feet. His nails were not scuffed as we would expect if he had been hit by a car so the vet told me that they thought he had been beaten or kicked.”
The member of the public who brought the dog into the vets had rehomed him from Melrose and Lindop the day before and she had brought the lurcher to the vets as soon as she realised he was injured.
Tally had inflammation of an ear which should have been treated by a vet
A vet report found Max had suffered blunt force trauma injuries, brought on by physical abuse.
The report said: “Max was bleeding from both nostrils which were dripping blood. He had soft tissue swelling around his left eye and bruising on his neck. He also had visible bruising and swelling on both sides of his ribs and thighs and heavy bruising on his abdomen. The injuries suffered by Max are consistent with low energy impacts, such as kicking, being hit by fists, or thrown from a few metres down or falling down the stairs.
“Out of each of these scenarios it is my opinion that being kicked is most likely due to the placement of all his injuries. In my opinion, he has been hit or kicked to the muzzle and kicked repeatedly – possibly multiple times to his abdomen as bruising and injuries were more extensive there.”
When interviewed, Melrose claimed that Lindop had, “kicked him like a football and stamped on his head.”
It was later revealed that during the investigation, the couple had hid other dogs from the RSPCA, including a lurcher called Bambi and a German Shepherd dog called Tally.
Melrose later showed these dogs to the RSPCA’s investigating officer. Tally was underweight and her right ear was crooked and inflamed with a severe ear infection.
Durham Crown Court heard how the vet found Tally suffered due to the ear condition which would have caused irritation and pain for at least 10 days or longer.
A report stated that the person responsible for Tally had failed to seek veterinary advice for her ear condition and therefore had failed in protecting her from pain and suffering.
During the investigation, Melrose’s phone was seized and found to contain shocking videos depicting more animal welfare offences. This included Bambi, a fawn coloured lurcher, being baited and set on a chicken. Lindop claimed Melrose was responsible for this but “accepted he found it funny at the time, but did not know if the chicken had died as he had gone to the chip shop”.
A video on Melrose’s phone showed her riding a lame Shetland pony called Dinky, who was much too small for her
A series of other videos on her phone showed Melrose riding a Shetland pony called Dinky who was struggling under the weight of carrying her and was clearly lame in one leg.
Analysis of the videos by a vet revealed: “The female was far too large for both the saddle and the pony and as a result her body overhangs the back and sides of the saddle. The female is carrying a whip in her right hand and trying to force the pony to trot forwards.”
The 16-second video showed her hitting the pony with a stick 10 times.
The pony tries to avoid having to move forward and only moves forward at a trot once she has been repeatedly smacked with the whip and this is due to the fear and pain of being hit. The mouth of the pony is often open due to her discomfort and the pony is visibly lame on the right forelimb.
Text messages between Lindop and his mother were also discovered in which Lindop asks “If a dog’s been hit and nearly dead am I not in the right to finish it off so it’s not in pain or does that mean I killed it?”.
With the reply: “She killed it, you put it out its misery but you would both get done as should have been done by a vet humanely.”
Lindop then replied to his mother: “Won’t find it now like coz burnt it (sic).”
The burned remains of Welsh herder puppy Hades were found on scrubland near a railway line in Horden, County Durham
The charred remains of Hades, a 12 week old Welsh Herder puppy, were also found close to a railway line in an area of scrubland in Hordon, Peterlee, where there were burnt patches on the ground and fragments of Hades’ bones were discovered by the RSPCA.
Lindop claimed in graphic detail that Melrose had killed him whilst Melrose told investigators that Lindop had “hung him from a door until he was brain dead.”
The prosecution said they were unable to say who killed Hades but the method of his death was “sadistic” and involved him being hung from a door and killed with a hammer.
Lindop, whom it was said in court is living with his family in Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, admitted two counts each of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and permitting or failing to stop unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Melrose admitted two counts each of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, and permitting or failing to stop unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, plus one of causing an animal fight to take place by baiting a chicken with a dog.
In mitigation, the court heard how the pair had challenging backgrounds and it was felt that rehabilitation is possible, given their young age.
Philip Morley, for Lindop, said he was, “not a sophisticated man”, having had “limited education” and is thought to suffer with an undiagnosed learning difficulty.
He said despite that, he has held down a variety of jobs and, “largely kept out of trouble”.
Mr Morley said at one stage Lindop formed a relationship with Melrose which he described as “toxic” and for which there is, now, no prospect of any reconciliation.
“It was clearly an unhealthy relationship for either party and not a good environment for those animals to be kept in.
“He’s deeply sorry and ashamed for what happened.
“The relationship got on top of him and he clearly took his eye off the ball.
“Both have now moved on and he has a new life in Gainsborough, working with his step-father in roofing and window cleaning.”
Mr Morley said, ironically, Lindop has a background of looking after animals and won a number of rosettes for training dogs in his younger days,
But he added that his client does not accept responsibility for the death of Hades, for which he has shown “genuine upset and remorse.”
Aspiring Only Fans skank Melrose shows off her tacky tattoos
Katie Spence, for Melrose, said her previous employment involved working with animals, but the entire experience of what went on during her relationship with Lindop has put her off any future involvement, regardless of the punishment and bars put on her by the court.
“She is extremely remorseful for any behaviour and wishes she had dome more than she did in these circumstances (to prevent it).”
Judge Peter Armstrong also mentioned mental health issues and commented that Lindop was now in a secure relationship with a baby on the way.
He said due to their age, their immaturity, and lack of previous offences, he was “just” able to suspend the inevitable prison sentences on both defendants.
He said, given the volatile relationship the pair were involved in, “I suspect you were taking out your frustrations on these animals in your welfare.”
He said he would not try to pinpoint who was primarily responsible for, “this catalogue of most unpleasant offending.”
Speaking about the case, RSPCA Inspector Clare Wilson, said: “This has been the most challenging case of my career so far and has been extremely distressing to investigate. It is clear that many animals suffered untold pain and mental torture at the hands of these defendants and I am immensely relieved that they will not be permitted to care for animals again for a long time.”
The RSPCA said Dinky was owned by a third party and is doing better now after recovering from her mistreatment. The dogs were brought into the care of RSPCA Felledge Animal Centre in Chester-le-Street where they have now been rehomed.
Sentencing | each were given 16-month prison sentences, suspended for two years. Both will undergo 40 days of rehabilitation and Lindop was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work. Both were disqualified from keeping all animals for 15 years.
CONVICTED (2023) | Liam Brown, born c. 1998, of Grosvenor Gardens, Boscombe, Bournemouth BH1 4HH – broke into a farm, tied up a calf with a belt and raped her.
“Sadistic” pervert Liam Brown was found by farmers with his trousers down and ‘clearly having sex with a calf’ at the farm in Burton, near Christchurch, Dorset.
He tried to get away and jumped a fence into another pen but was trampled by cows.
He cried as he lay on the floor and told farmers, “I’m sorry, I f*” up.”
Brown was subsequently charged with sexual penetration with a living animal and causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Prosecuting, Matthew Mortimer said that the owners of the farm, which is off Martins Hill Lane, had set up a surveillance system following suspicions cattle were being “interfered with”.
It followed declining health among the livestock, and even deaths, as well as incidents where items of clothing and surgical gloves had been found on the farm.
Shortly before midnight on June 12, 2022, a calf was heard making a ‘distress sound’ prompting the farmers to check the CCTV.
Viewing live footage from the farmhouse they saw a figure chasing a calf around with what appeared to be a belt.
The court heard how the defendant ran away after realising he had been caught, and in doing so, fell into another animal cage and was trampled by cows.
He was confronted by the farm owners, and when one asked if the abused animal was tied up, he responded that ‘he had finished and untied the calf’.
A DNA sample taken from a calf the following day proved ‘intercourse’ had taken place.
The defendant was known to the farmers as some of his family previously worked at the farm.
While they suspected that animals were being abused, the farm owners said ‘the truth was something they could not comprehend’.
Mitigating, Olivia McGonigle noted her client was remorseful and was “devastated by the pain he has caused”.
She told the court: “Mr Brown has been open and honest with the probation service about the offence.
“He has been open about the difficulties he has with his behaviour.”
Mrs McGonigle said that the defendant was “working to address his behaviour” and was being supported by his girlfriend.
She added that Brown had moved away from the area and had no intention to work with any livestock.
Summarising, Judge Keith Cutler CBE said: “This is a very alarming, bizarre and worrying case.
“A man of your age getting involved in this behaviour – I’m sure you look back on it with shame and embarrassment.
“Your actions did cause unnecessary suffering to this animal.
“I hope that nothing like this will ever happen again.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail after the sentencing hearing, one of the farm owners said she was concerned that Brown would strike again and still checks the cattle pen every morning.
She said: ‘You never think that somebody could be so depraved.
‘It was my job to feed the calves. They would be fine when I left them at night and then I would find them ill in the morning and struggling to breathe.
‘I thought they had pneumonia so I was trying to treat them for that but it was actually because he was strangling them with his belt.
‘He took his belt off to tie the calf to the gate.
‘He should have gone to prison.’
Sentencing | 36-month community order with 150 hours of unpaid work; £600 compensation. Banned from owning or keeping livestock for ten years.
CONVICTED (2023) | Kelly Jones, born c. 1967, of Station Road, New Romney TN28 – strangled a 15-year-old dog to death.
Jones, an ex-soldier who served in the Falklands War, punched, kicked and stamped on 66-year-old drug addict Martin Marsh, before turning his attention to his elderly pet dog, known as Jack-Jack.
The two men had only known each other for a week when Jones turned up shouting outside Mr Marsh’s home at Pavilion Court in Marine Terrace, Folkestone late at night on April 14, 2023.
Both were said to be heavy users of class A drugs and “acrimonious, aggressive and abusive” with each other at the time of the incident.
Mr Marsh could not afford electricity at his bedsit and, once Jones was inside, a row broke out when he complained about the state of the property, said prosecutor Caroline Knight.
“The defendant punched Mr Marsh in the face and that blow sent him to the floor,” she told the court.
“The attack continued with Mr Marsh being kicked and punched and stamped on his head, he thinks, for around 10 to 15 minutes.
“The defendant also put his fingers and thumbs into Mr Marsh’s eyes, causing him to suffer very serious pain and to think he may end up blind.
“He describes being in fear for his life and screaming for help.”
Jones eventually fell asleep on a sofa and, on waking the next morning, apologised.
But the court heard the ex-serviceman then turned his attention to Marsh’s elderly dog, who was said to be very thin and possibly malnourished.
Ms Knight continued: “The defendant told Mr Marsh he should have the dog put down. When Mr Marsh refused, the defendant took it into the bathroom, put a cord around its neck and strangled him to death.”
Marsh fled to a neighbour and police were called.
Officers found Jones hiding in the kitchen where he said: “I’ll admit to what I’ve done and I would do it again”.
In interview he claimed to have he acted in self-defence and “assisted” Marsh in killing Jack-Jack, said Ms Knight.
Jones, who has 33 previous convictions for 63 offences, later admitted assault causing actual bodily harm and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Sarah Thorne, defending, urged the court to show Jones “some mercy”, saying he accepted he had behaved “appallingly”.
She said that as well as battling a long-term addiction to drugs and alcohol, he also suffered from mental health problems, including a diagnosis of bipolar, and more recently been told he has bowel cancer.
Passing sentence, Recorder Michael Turner condemned Jones for his “prolonged and persistent” attack on “hopeless heroin addict” Marsh.
Of the killing of Jack-Jack, Recorder Turner continued: “I am prepared to accept this was a gross lapse of judgement on your part, fuelled by your drug addiction and your addled brain at the time.
“But your use of a ligature is an aggravating feature as it is effectively the use of a weapon. You used that to strangle this poor, malnourished, elderly animal to death.
“You killed it. You didn’t just harm it… you inflicted upon it the ultimate penalty for no good reason.”
At the time of the incident, the offence of animal cruelty carried a maximum jail term of six months, but new legislation introduced in July has increased that penalty to five years.
Recorder Turner told Jones he was therefore “fortunate” he had committed the crime three months before the law change.
The judge added he hoped Jones continued with the progress made while in prison on remand, and that he would receive “good news” regarding his cancer.
Sentencing | jailed for 27 months for the assault on Mr Marsh, and handed a concurrent prison term of 19 weeks for killing the pet. He was also given a three-year restraining order.
CONVICTED (2023) | Nicola Bradley, born c. 1988, of Welsh Road, Upperby, Carlisle CA1 3AU and Tracy Dixon, born c. 1976, of Warnell Drive, Harraby, Carlisle CA1 3LR – sadistically tortured and killed a friend’s African grey parrot.
Tracy Dixon (left) and Nicola Bradley were jailed for the sadistic killing of a friendly African grey parrot called Sparky
Friends Bradley and Dixon were collected from a night out by Paul Crooks, who took the women to his home at around 5.30am on July 30, 2022.
As the women carried on drinking, Mr Crooks went to bed. He woke at 8.30am to find his guests had messed around with shaving foam which had gone over the cage of the parrot, Sparky.
This was cleaned and, as he left his house to go shopping, he told the women to leave the bird alone.
But on returning home Mr Crooks found the women wearing his clothing with Sparky unresponsive and unrecognisable, her head hanging limply out of a cage.
After confronting the pair, he learned the parrot had been covered with Mr Muscle, Brasso, furniture polish, daubed in gloss paint, and also hit with a tea towel.
Attempts were also made to feed Sparky to Mr Crooks’ dog before the parrot was dumped into a tumble drier which was switched on.
Mr Crooks was told that Bradley had snapped Sparky’s neck with Dixon reporting the bird to be “gasping” when pulled from the drier.
But after police were alerted and the women were interviewed, they sought to blame each other for the shocking cruelty.
The women went on trial in July 2023 having denied causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal but were found guilty by magistrates.
Mr Crooks had told the court that singing Sparky was a big hit with his friends, and used to belt out the national anthem plus theme tunes from Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Sentencing them, Judge Richard Archer said “You, together, sadistically tortured and essentially killed Sparky. It is frankly beyond comprehension how anyone could treat an animal in his way.”
Sentencing | 25-month custodial. Both were banned from owning or keeping animals indefinitely.
CONVICTED (2023) | Matthew Stuart Stark aka Matthew Pinfold or Matt Ilett, born March 1981, from Peterborough – killed his partner’s two dogs during a relationship that left his victim ‘living in fear’.
Stark poisoned and strangled German Spitzes Ronnie and Tiki while his partner was out at work.
Ronnie and Tiki
She realised something was wrong when she came home that evening and the animals weren’t waiting at the door to greet her. She found her pets in their beds and covered in faeces.
The dogs were rushed to the vets but nothing could be done to save them and they died as a result of their injuries.
Veterinary reports suggested that the dogs could have been poisoned and there was bruising around the chest and neck of the animals.
CONVICTED (2023) | David Meteer, born December 1953, of West Ghyll Place, High Harrington, Workington CA14 5RS – threw his German Shepherd into a pool and hit him with a pipe.
Neighbours secretly filmed Workington man David Meteer terrorising his dogs
Police were called to an address in High Harrington, Workington, at 7pm on June 17, 2022, to reports that a man was abusing his dogs.
Officers spoke to neighbours who provided videos of Meteer assaulting the dogs.
Pamela Fee, prosecuting, said the defendant was seen picking up the German Shepherd dog called Brody, and throwing him into a swimming pool.
Ms Fee said he was strangling the dog and hitting him with a blue pipe.
He was shouting at the dog, calling him a blonde bastard and a blonde tit.
Neighbours had captured the horrific abuse on their phones and the video footage was handed over to police.
The dog was seized by police and taken to the vet. He had breaking of the skin and whip marks.
Photos were provided by the vet which showed lacerations and injuries to the dog’s mouth, as well as other marks.
Meteer was interviewed by police and gave ‘no comment’ throughout. However, during arrest, he had admitted hitting the dog with a pipe and throwing him into a pool.
Ms Fee said the dog was ‘clearly terrified’ by the behaviour. She said it was a ‘deliberate attempt’ to cause suffering.
In an insane decision by the courts, these German shepherds were returned to the care of a man caught on camera abusing a terrified dog
John Goodwin, defending, said Meteer had kept dogs for many years and had “lost it” following a fight between two German Shepherds which he owns.
District Judge John Temperley drew back from imposing a ban on keeping animals when passing sentence, after hearing numerous references which ‘spoke highly’ of Meteer, as well as the steps taken by a dog behaviour expert and with regards to anger management.
Meteer has now been reunited with five of the seven dogs.
Sentencing | 12-month community order with electronic tag; £6000 in compensation. No ban.
CONVICTED (2022) | Patricia King, born c. 1975, of 24 Palmcourt, Orchard Park, Hull HU6 9TH – strangled and viciously stabbed her pet dog, causing fatal injuries.
Evil Patricia King used a kitchen knife to stab the female Yorkie, known as Pepper, nine times during a repeated and deliberate incident that would have caused the tiny dog a lot of pain and distress.
Philip Brown, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said that King “inflicted deliberate and fatal cruelty” on the dog, who was aged between four and five, at her home.
King approached a woman that she knew and asked her for a cuddle. She told the woman that she had killed her dog.
Being aware that King did not always tell the entire truth, the woman asked King to show her the dog. She then made the “shocking discovery” of finding Pepper’s badly mutilated remains wrapped in an old blanket in a bedroom.
The woman managed to “secrete” the dog out of the property and alerted the RSPCA.
Pepper’s body was taken away and it was discovered that she had suffered nine stab wounds, likely to have been caused by a kitchen knife.
“The wounds led to significant internal bleeding,” said Mr Brown.
“The animal was also subject to strangulation and suffocation while it was still alive and the vet concludes that the stab wounds were inflicted while the dog was alive.”
The wounds included stabs to the back and side in quick succession and “trauma” would have been caused.
“Death was directly attributed to the stab wounds,” said Mr Brown. “The dog did not immediately die. There is evidence of strangulation in addition to the stab wounds. The animal going into shock would have speeded up death.
“This animal would have suffered, from this ordeal, an extreme pain reaction and would have been extremely distressed. There was a high degree of suffering and distress caused to the animal by the manner of its death.”
King’s lawyer said his client had no previous convictions and was at a low risk of re-offending. He added that the offence was “out of character” although she had misused drugs and had other problems including significant debt.
Presiding magistrate Lynda Carmichael told King: “Due to the deliberate and sustained injuries inflicted on the dog, Pepper, which led to a high degree of suffering, we do believe that this matter warrants immediate custody.”
King’s lawyer immediately gave notice of an appeal and requested that his client be released from custody pending the hearing, but this was denied.
She remained in custody to be taken to New Hall Prison, near Wakefield.
Sentencing | 16 weeks in jail. £120 victim surcharge. Indefinite ban on keeping any animal but this will be for a minimum of 10 years.
