CONVICTED (2017) | Lewis Robert Fox, aka Lewis Monroe or Zachary Monroe Fox, born 29/03/1995, of Southsea Avenue, Minster, Kent ME12 2LU – tortured and killed four hamsters and two rats

Father-of-one Lewis Fox killed four hamsters and two rats. He repeatedly threw one defenceless hamster against a wall until she died, strangled another with a phone cable lead and squeezed the life out of a third.

A court heard Fox boasted of setting fire to a fourth hamster after she bit him. The next time his teenage girlfriend, Jessica Bradbrook, saw the animal, her fur was scorched and her toes had been burnt off with a lighter.

Miss Bradbrook had bought the first hamster after she and Fox discussed having a baby together. She wanted to see if he was capable of caring for an animal before trusting him with a child.

But within a week he had killed the rodent because he believed the animal ‘preferred’ her to him.

In March 2016 the scaffolder killed another hamster and sent text messages containing images of her dead body to Miss Bradbrook.

Fox later told police he had no feelings ‘for anything or anyone’, and did not even love his mother.

Fox admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal between January 1, 2015, and November 7, 2016.

He also pleaded guilty to engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate relationship between December 30, 2015, and November 25, 2016.

This involved him burning her with a cigarette, holding a knife to her throat, pinning her down on the bed and putting his hands around her neck.

Fox also accused her of cheating while he dated other women, verbally abused her, monitored her social media accounts, told her how to dress and flirted with her friends.

“He spat in her face on many occasions but perhaps most disgustingly of all, she describes how he would pick his nose and then the bloody contents on his finger would be wiped into her hair,” said Mr Wright.

A previous court hearing was told Fox’s mother reported his behaviour to police after the couple broke up in November 2016.

A psychiatric report presented to the court diagnosed Fox with a personality disorder with left him with “callous unconcern” for others and a disregard for social norms and rules.

Jailing Fox, who also suffers from ADHD and has a history of substance abuse, Judge Julian Smith said prison was inevitable for such ‘persistent aggression and cruel behaviour’.

He added the sentence was ‘relatively moderate’ considering the impact of his offending but reflected Fox’s mental health problems.

“It was a relationship in which you quickly became controlling and undermining. You used violence and force upon her, blaming her for the injuries you caused,” he told Fox.

“You were cruel and contemptuous of her in your conduct towards her. It was distressing, it was debilitating in its effect upon her.”

Referring to the pet rodents, Judge Smith continued: “You killed them all, in various ways, each characterised by cruelty.

“It was distressing to Miss Bradbrook. You were cruel to those creatures, you were cruel to your partner.

“It is apparent you struggle to see what you have done wrong, why it is an issue. It’s just what you do.

“It’s not an excuse, it’s a worry. Your persistent aggression and cruel behaviour causes this court and the doctor that interviewed you real concern for the future.”

Fox, who has a fox tattoo on his chest, told his mother and girlfriend from the court dock that he loved them.

The couple met in December 2014 and throughout their relationship Miss Bradbrook suffered bruising from Fox pinning her down, kicking or punching her.

“If he did anything to her he would tell her it was her fault and it was she who would have to apologise. He would then tell her to forget it had ever happened,” said Mr Wright.

The court heard that on her 18th birthday in July 2015, Fox verbally abused Miss Bradbrook, threw her cake on the floor and then kicked her out of his house.

He also ‘borrowed’ £1,580 from a gift of £4,000 given to her by her father which he had saved since she was born. The money was never repaid.

In one violent incident Fox put his hand around her throat while gripping a hamster in his other hand and threatening to kill it.

Describing an occasion when she woke at 4am to find Fox with his hands around her throat, the prosecutor told the court: “She couldn’t breathe and thought she might die. He told her it would be so easy to snap her neck.”

When arrested and interviewed, he claimed he threw one hamster against a wall to kill it because it had suffered a broken leg after dropping it.

“He said the text messages (of another dead hamster) were attention-seeking, to make her feel bad that he couldn’t control her,” added Mr Wright.

“He described it as a ‘f*-up relationship. He continually stated they were just as bad as each other.

“He said he doesn’t have any feelings for anything or anyone. He said he once loved Jessica but now felt nothing, not even love for his own mother.”

Craig Evans, defending, said Fox, who has one previous conviction for a drug offence, had to give up his job because of suicidal and self-harming tendencies.

He added his family had done all they could to support Fox but he had failed to take advantage of the assistance offered by them and various organisations.

Sentencing: 14 months in jail. Banned indefinitely from keeping an animal.

KentLive