#MostEvil | William Michael Leggatt, born 15 March 1995, originally from Gravesend, Kent, and more recently Badger Road, Thornbury, Bristol BS35 1AD – battered, kicked and stamped on to huskies, causing serious injuries.
Leggatt, aged 19 at date of the offence, pleaded guilty to five offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
Leggatt was caught on CCTV at his previous home in Gravesend tying adult dog Balue to a banister before punching, kicking and stamping on her. He then turned on his puppy Nala, who he beat and threatened with a knife.
The older dog escaped serious injury but Nala suffered a broken hip, jaw, cheek and a fractured skull.
District judge Lynn Matthews said Leggatt’s treatment of his animals amounted to “torture” adding that she wouldn’t trust him with a goldfish.
Judge Matthews said she was “staggered” by what she had read in the veterinary reports, noting that. “With the puppy it wasn’t a slight fracture but the bone has broken away.”
One of the videos showed Leggatt kicked one of the dogs 29 times.
Police uncovered the abuse when they were investigating another crime in Leggatt’s block of flats and examined CCTV.
When he was arrested Leggatt told police the dogs had been ‘naughty’ and said his only fault was not knowing when to ‘stop telling them off.’
In court, he admitted three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and two counts of failing to protect it from pain, suffering and injury.
John Stokes, defending, said his client had both emotional and behavioural problems but had a partner and a young child to look after.
Sentence: jailed for 17 weeks. Banned from keeping animals for life.
Additional Information
In April 2016 Leggatt was jailed for 2 years for stealing £32,000 from his grandparents, Andrea and John Scott of Gravesend. His accomplice was his brother Oliver Leggatt of Paignton, Devon, who is currently serving nine years for armed robbery.
Update July 2018
Leggatt was jailed yet again after attacking a woman and breaking a rabbit’s leg by throwing him on the floor. For the animal cruelty he was given a 21-week jail sentence and a four-week consecutive sentence for the assault.