A SECURITY guard is accused of killing nine cats and injuring seven others in a series of attacks in Brighton that have left police perplexed for months, prosecutors say.
Detectives have received increasing reports of beloved pets seriously injured or killed under suspicious circumstances in 2018 and 2019, but no one has been caught red-handed.
A breakthrough in the horrific mystery came when a CCTV system put in place by the owner of another killed cat appeared to capture a new attack on camera, a court has heard.
Previously in the trial: “Knife found with cat blood at the home of the accused”
Steve Bouquet, 54, of Brighton, East Sussex, had previously pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of criminal damage related to cats and one count of possession of a knife.
The mall security guard did not appear at Chichester Crown Court on Tuesday and the trial took place in his absence.
Prosecutor Rowan Jenkins told jurors: ‘In 2018 Sussex Police opened what has become a major investigation following reports of domestic cats being targeted and deliberately stabbed in Brighton.
“Sometimes the owners… found their cats to be still alive and were able to take timely action to try and save them by taking them to their vet.”
However, nine cats received injuries so severe that they could not be rescued, the court said.
Mr Jenkins added: “By targeting the pets, of course the manager was not only causing suffering to the animals themselves, you can imagine that the actions caused understandable trauma to the owners many of whom have been greatly affected to. both emotionally and, secondarily perhaps, financially. ”
He said the wounds were “penetrating and clean” and caused by a sharp article such as a knife.
The attacks lasted for several months between October 2018 and June 2019, with police unable to identify a subject despite their efforts.
“No one has ever been caught red-handed, so it went on for quite a while,” Jenkins said.
On May 31, 2019, Stewart Montgomery and his partner Agatha were at home when their nine-month-old black kitten Hendrix entered bleeding profusely.
They rushed him to the vet, but the injury – a single knife wound stuck side to side – was too severe and he did not survive.
When he returned home, Mr. Montgomery noticed a trail of blood and saw a CCTV camera nearby.
Previously in the trial: “Knife found with cat blood at the home of the accused”
The camera was actually installed by a neighbor whose cat had been stabbed and killed the year before, the court heard.
Footage was obtained which appeared to show Bouquet stroking a cat and taking something from her backpack before doing a “sudden jerk” with her arm, the prosecutor said.
“This is the point where we say the accused stabs Hendrix with some force,” Jenkins said.
After Bouquet’s arrest on June 2, 2019, police searched his home and found a knife in the kitchen.
Scientific investigations have found its DNA on the handle and DNA from a domestic cat has been found on the blade, the court said.
The trial continues.
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Source: www.theargus.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-23 09:55:16
