CONVICTED (2022) | former police officer John Fleming (age and address unknown) – caught on camera brutally kicking one dog and slamming the head of another onto the road.
Fleming pleaded guilty to two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to his pets (pictured): Alsatian cross Ko and Staffy Alfie during the incident.
A witness spotted Fleming with his dogs on the Craigbrack Road, Eglinton, on January 30, 2021.
They saw Ko had “grabbed a springer spaniel by the back and was shaking it.”
Fleming kicked Ko until the dog let go and the Alsatian “cowered before him”.
But Fleming then bent down, picked the dog up by his head and slammed him “hard onto the ground”.
The witness recorded the rest of the incident on dashcam.
During the footage played to the court, Fleming is seen continuing to kick at the Alsatian a number of times before the animal gets up and runs back onto the road.
Fleming, wearing a yellow high vis jacket, can be seen swinging five full-force kicks at Ko.
At least three of his kicks connect with the animal, who is then seen running way.
Striding a short distance down the road after Ko, Fleming appears to stop his husband Daniel Fleming-Cairo from stroking Alfie.
But he then picks up the smaller dog by his scruff and hindquarters, raising him above head height, arms fully stretched, before slamming the animal into tarmac.
The video records Fleming repeating the move – lifting Alfie nearly to head height, and slamming him into the ground.
However the footage is cut off when a vehicle drives in front of the camera, obscuring Fleming and his husband from view.
Prosecuting counsel said while there was no audio on the recording, the witness claimed he had “blasted the car horn and shouted something along the lines of ‘stop beating that dog’.”
However Fleming’s reaction was to turn around and begin “shouting and posturing aggressively,“ the court was told.
There were confrontational words exchanged between the men, with Fleming trying to open the vehicle door.
Council and police officers went to Fleming’s home a few days later.
A vet noticed that while both animals were friendly and good-natured, Alfie “did appear to be slightly sore when sitting and rising and was assessed as having a mild weight-bearing lameness in his right leg with a superficial wound.”
A third dog was also seized during the visit.
Although initially Fleming’s husband wanted to contest the Council’s application for this dog to be re-homed the court heard he had agreed to the measure.
The court also heard that when he was initially questioned about the incident, Fleming claimed his actions were “proportional.”
He said: “Obviously I am remorseful that I had to hit my dogs… [but] I wouldn’t have acted if I didn’t think that they weren’t correct… Do I regret acting? No… It’s the circumstances I regret that it even happened.”
When the witness’ account was put to him, Fleming “laughed throughout” that portion of the interview and accused the witness “of a public disorder offence”.
Defence counsel Eoghan Devlin said that Fleming had been dismissed from the PSNI this week “as a result of these proceedings”.
Not only had he suffered the ignominy of finding himself in the dock, but he had also lost “what was a very promising career,” Mr Devlin added.
Fleming faced a maximum sentence of five years behind bars, but walked free from court with a community service order..
Sentencing | 200-hour Community Service Order; £2000 towards costs. Banned from keeping any animal for ten years.
