Man jailed for 20 weeks after trying to kill his neighbours’ cat

Karl Dyke had the pet in a noose and ‘moments from death’ when its owners intervened

File image, female Siamese cat: A man from Hereford has been jailed for 20 weeks after trying to kill his neighbour's pet cat (Wikimedia/Telekokopelli)

A man has been sentenced to 20 weeks in jail after he tried to kill his neighbours’ cat.

Karl Dyke, 52, admitted attacking the pet outside his home in Hereford in July, but he insisted he was only trying to “teach the animal a lesson” after it had soiled in his garden.

The owners of Siamese cat Coralie said otherwise. According to reports in the Hereford Times, Michael and Tracey Lawrence told the court how they heard their pet meowing in distress and ran outside to see Dyke carrying her.

Mr Lawrence said he then opened the door to his neighbour’s shed and found him inside, hanging the cat from a rope. He told magistrates the animal’s face was contorted and it looked “moments from death”.

“I was shocked, I just couldn’t believe it. He had a smile on his face while doing it,” he said.

A brief scuffle between the two men followed, during which Coralie was able to escape. Mr and Mrs Lawrence later found her hiding under a car and took her to a vet, where she was found to have suffered minor injuries including soft tissue damage to the neck.

Dyke said he was trying to teach the cat not to go into his garden, and that he was intending to tie the cat to a table in the shed for a few hours and then release it.

But Roger Phillips, chairman of the bench, said magistrates were satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Lawrence’s testimony was accurate and that Dyke was trying to kill the animal.

Dyke, of Escley Drive, was jailed this morning to serve a 20 week term.