Cleator Moor man could be jailed for 'killing' and burning his dog

Nathan Thompson, 28, admitted subjecting his Border Collie-cross Daisy to “rough handling” and causing unnecessary suffering, but he denied killing the dog, saying it died after escaping and being run over.

After hearing evidence at Carlisle Crown Court, a judge ruled against Thompson, saying he was responsible for the dog’s death.

The defendant, whose neighbours in Melbreak Avenue, Cleator Moor, gave evidence for the prosecution, has been warned he now faces a possible jail term when he is sentenced on September 29.

The court heard from three neighbours – a young woman and a couple. All reported seeing and hearing evidence of Daisy being mistreated.

They spoke of regularly hearing “bangs” followed by “yelps” coming from Thompson’s home. Neighbour Gary Butchart recalled an occasion when, through the walls of his house, he heard the defendant shouting at Daisy.

He was yelling: “Bite me again, and I’ll ******* kill you.”

Another witness saw Thompson in the garden, dragging Daisy across the garden and forciby pushing her head into a hole. The woman became so concerned that he began recording the bangs and yelps from the defendant's house to have a record of what she believed was Daisy being abused.

She recalled sitting on her back step, sobbing as he considered the situation, the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end as she heard the sound of what she believes was Daisy being "kicked or beaten."

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The third neighbour, Charlotte Palmer, became so concerned she tried to alert the RSPCA, though nobody at the charity responded.

Recalling a day in early September last year, she said she was concerned enought to knock on Thompson’s front door and then tell him: "If you can’t handle that dog, I’ll take her...I wanted to take it because I believed it was getting hurt.”

The day before the dog went missing, said Miss Palmer, she saw Daisy limping. The dog's charred remains were found by one of her friends, who smelled something similar to a barbecue, and went to Thompson’s garden to investigate.

In his evidence, Thompson admitted threatening to kill Daisy – as reported by his neighbour. But he insisted the dog ran away. He looked for it for a day and then, the following day, a woman told him of a dead dog by the roadside at Trumpet Terrace.

“I broke down and started crying,” he said.

He had tried to bury Daisy but the ground was too hard to dig, he claimed.

Giving his evidence, he told the court he had to carry Daisy "by the scruff of her neck" because she would bite him if he tried to carry her in the normal way by holding her body from undernearth.

Defence barrister Anthony Parkinson asked: "Did you every shout at Daisy." The defendant replied: "Yes.""Did you ever cause Daisy deliberate injury?" asked Mr Parkinson. "No," was Thompson's reply.

Andrew Evans, for the prosecution, also quizzed Thompson. The barrister noted that the defendant was seen wearing a "moon" boot because he had a broken toe at the time the dog disappeared.

"Did you sustain that injury by kicking your dog?" asked Mr Evans. Thompson said the hurt his foot while suffering a seizure. Referring to the admission that Thompson made about saying he would kill Daisy if she bit him again, the barrister said: "You did kill her, just as you threatened to."

"I didn't, no," said Thompson. Mr Evans suggested that Thompson, by burning Daisy's body, was attempting to "destroy the evidence" of how he had abused the dog. "I wasn't trying to hide anything," said Thompson.

He said he did not know the name of the woman who told him she had seen a dog's body at the roadside at the bottom of Trumpet Terrace. He said he used Facebook to ask friends to look for Daisy when she was missing. 

Recorder Julian Shaw described the evidence as “extremely distressing.” The evidence of the neighbours was “straightforward, transparent and honest,” he said, adding: “I accept their evidence without reservation.

“I am sure, beyond reasonable doubt, that this defendant badly treated his dog, and it died as a result of its injuries... All sentencing options, including significant and immediate custody, are likely options.”

Thompson was granted bail while a background report is prepared.