Man spared jail after drowning neighbour's dog in bucket to stop it barking...
 

An airline pilot has avoided jail after drowning his neighbour's pet dog in a bucket to stop it from barking.

Stephen Woodhouse killed border terrier Meg, who was bought as a gift for his neighbours' late, disabled 10-year-old daughter.

Woodhouse, 53, drowned the dog in his garden then used a knife to cut open the carcass to remove a microchip and cover his tracks, a court heard

The Flybe pilot, from Long Buckby, Northants, later told police: 'I just had to stop the noise'.

The pet had originally been bought as eight-week old puppy by Alan and Alison Boddington for their seriously ill daughter Lauren, who passed away in 2008.

Following Lauren's death the dog became a valued part of the family and was 'the one thing' they had left of her.

Woodhouse had reached over the Boddington's garden fence and picked up the dog 'by the scruff of the neck' and dragged it onto his property last July.

He then plunged its head into a bucket of water and held it there until it stopped moving.

On Wednesday, Woodhouse was given a 12 week custodial sentence, suspended for two years at Corby Magistrates' Court.

He had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal at an earlier hearing.

Alan, 48, and Alison, 50, bought border collie Meg for Lauren who was born with severe brain damage and died of an acute asthma attack shortly after her tenth birthday

The court heard Woodhouse had attempted to dump the body of the dog on three occasions after he killed the beloved family pet.

First he planned to dispose of the animal by a hedge row in Long Buckby Wharf and later considered areas around Birmingham Airport and Ashby St Ledgers.

Police visited Woodhouse at home the following week after Alison had noticed dog hairs inside the Flybe pilot’s boot and informed police.

During that visit he admitted what he had done and the body was recovered from the house.

RSPCA prosecutor Kevin McCole read extracts of Woodhouse's police interview to the court.

He said: 'The defendant told the police in interview, 'I just reached my hands down,’ ‘it was an act if stupidity, of desperation I suppose. I just had to stop the noise.'

Sara-Lise Howe, defending, said Woodhouse had become distressed by the dog’s barking and had suffered a heart attack a year earlier.

She said: 'He had no idea how it happened. 'He just lost his wits. He just wanted the dog to stop it.'

Miss Howe added that the incident had 'divided' the village of Long Buckby and that the last year had been a 'living hell' for the pilot.

Speaking outside court Mr Boddington said the pet was 'lovely-natured' and didn't cause a lot of noise.

He said: 'She was only a small dog, it’s not like she was a big loud thing that was causing a lot of noise.

'We got Meg as an eight-week-old puppy for our daughter who was special needs as a little companion and obviously she became a very important part of our family.

'We have got lots of memories of Lauren and Meg together and it has traumatised the children and all of us are very, very upset.'

When Meg went missing, the Boddington's other daughter Alexandra, 19, posted a notice on the National Dogs Trust website

Dozens of volunteers teamed up with the family to knock doors in the area for several days in a desperate attempt to find her.

They knocked on Woodhouse's door but when he answered he denied seeing the dog.

The court also heard Woodhouse had since been pronounced as fit to work following psychiatric assessments.

He was also ordered to pay costs of £2,400 and a victim surcharge of £180.

Leaving court he spoke only to admit: 'It was a terrible thing to do.'

He added that he had nothing to say to the Boddington family.


https://uk.news.yahoo.com/pilot-spar...l?vp=1#UGKewXr

What a bastard.

Sara-Lise Howe, defending, said Woodhouse had become distressed by the dog’s barking and had suffered a heart attack a year earlier.

Pity it didn't kill him. Horrible ****. Hopefully someone finishes the job.

'I just had to stop the noise'.

Why did no one stop the barking
its against the law - if they bark non stop.

https://s1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/y...dog-killer.jpg
The Killer

and the (Now Dead) Dog

...I do understand his stress, Arista if the dog was barking constantly as he said..that would have caused a very poor quality to his life and made him feel miserable all the time and maybe the 'discipline' wasn't there with Meg that may have made it better for him..?..but she was bought for a seriously disabled child, to help improve her quality of life..for her parents to see her have joy in something..?..and looking after a severely disabled child is emotionally and physically draining so it's also easy to understand how there may have been a lapse with discipline if that was the case...so although the barking may have been very stressful for him, it's also that thing of seeing beyond that and having an understanding of that.. to thinking of the child, the parents and what was maybe relieving all of their stress a bit in having Meg and what their lives must be/have been at the time...everything is not just about the law, Arista...he could have put in earplugs, there are things he could have done which would have showed consideration and compassion to his neighbours..to their child, he may have felt helpless to the barking that was driving him crazy but how helpless was Lauren to her disability and how helpless were her parents to have to watch her suffer but one thing they could do was to give her Meg which brought her some happiness...

It is sadly


The Council have the right to remove the dog
with the help of the RSPCA.


Why is "Disability"
being dragged into this
that house was full of others
why did they not do anything
about a non stop barking dog?

Ammi
Never say a man needs earplugs in his own home

Pathetic thing to say

..he didn't have to have them/he didn't 'need' them Arista because yes it is his own home...it's a choice he could have made to show understanding to others and improve his life quality of life rather than callously killing a dog...and maybe 'the others' didn't do anything about a non stop barking dog..(if that was the case...)...because they were caring for a severely disabled child and then grieving for her...and yes Arista, her disability is relevant because it showed were their priorities were and where their heads and hearts were which is understandable...oh this family is grieving for their daughter, their dog is barking because their struggling and maybe it misses Lauren as well and is showing it in the way it knows how to, let's kill it...that'll be a little bit easier for them...I'm sure that they would have addressed the issue in time when they were ready...just a little understanding of that..?...if everything in life was just law and black and white Arista..?..really we would all be a pretty crumby lot of people....without compassion, empathy and understanding, what would set us apart as being a 'higher species'...

..anyway, must go to work now so I will leave discussions to you, you have a great day...

Yeah, as Purdy said it's a pity the heart attack didn't see him finished off. What a disgusting human being.

[her disability is relevant because it showed were their priorities were and where their heads ]

But they got the wrong dog
it needed long walks.


This is about a Non Stop Barking Dog
which is illegal

Not about a Disabled child

If he was so distressed he could've gone down the right route and had the dog removed, no need to kill the poor little thing!

"He said: 'She was only a small dog, it’s not like she was a big loud thing that was causing a lot of noise."

Small or Large Dog
doing nonstop barking is Illegal
FACT

Yes he could have done that
but at that time
he killed the dog
it was all to much , for him.

It's no justification for me sorry.

...ahhh ok, he got stuck on the legal thing so he killed it which was completely legal and the solution and obviously in a moment of extreme distress which is why he tried to cover it all up and dispose of the pet...submerging an animal's face in a bucket of water while it struggles for breathe and then is lifeless takes no time at all/split seconds to think about what you're doing and the extreme and brutality of it...

No Jail for that
he was stopping the Non Stop Barking


If anyone gets a Dog
Never let it Non Stop Bark
Fact

Your not next door to it

Neither are you.

This crime is just one more example of someone taking the law into their own hands just because he arrogantly feels justified in doing so.

Be it rioting in the streets, defacing War Monuments, slandering and libeling innocent celebrities who have not been arrested or charged, or any other example, the increasing trend is to sanction such vigilantism by actual support or by default due to passive silence.

This 'sentence' is just one more example of a Judicial system which is in total free fall from its once lofty position of equity and erudition, and indicts our Judiciary as being as far removed now from reality as can be.

There is NO mitigation for what this callous arrogant bastard did to a tiny defenseless animal - no more than there is for what child murderers do to to tiny defenseless children, what Jihadists do to bound and defenseless victims, what muggers do to old and frail OAP's, or any other examples of what is essentially bullying in its extreme and ultimate form.

If he was close to breaking point because the dog was doing what dog's do naturally - barking - then he had many alternatives to the action which he took.

And for those who try to justify his bestiality by claiming that he had some kind of breakdown, I say the fact that he covertly abducted the pet from over the fence, and the fact that he consciously tried to 'cover his tracks' by using a knife to cut open the carcass to remove a microchip, makes a nonsense of such claims.

The fact that he could not only drown a little dog but actually cut open the carcass speaks volumes at this bastard's psychopathic nature, and thank God it was NOT a persistently crying 2 year old baby who had 'got on his nerves'.

This sick fecko should be re-tried and given 10 years sharing a cell with the equally as sick fecko Magistrates who awarded him just a 12 week custodial sentence, suspended for two years at Corby Magistrates' Court.

They should be given 20 years.

Sure
But I understand a non stop barking Dog
is a major problem.

Bastard,I HATE people like that,no excuse for such cruelty,I hope that dogs barking haunts him for the rest of his life,the twunt.

You took the words right out my mouth,excellently put.

How he escaped greater punishment for not only killing the dog but then trying to pervert the cause of justice by covering the deed up and also removing the microchip too,is completely beyond me.

I'd rather have a barking dog than the likes of him anywhere near me any day of the week.

If he'de have done that to my dog Joey,I'de have been in jail,why do these judges give such light sentences for cruelty to animals ,it will never deter people ,I was angry just reading about that.

For me, the bigger issue here is, how the hell can he be found fit to fly a plane again.
Firstly he has already had one heart attack, secondly he obviously can't cope with stress and thirdly he is barbaric enough to drown that poor dog and then cut it open.
Anybody going to form a queue for a free plane ride to hell?

Yes, barking dogs can drive you crackers, so you knock on the neighours door and ask them to do something about it, if it still barks all the time you then pick up the phone and call the authorities.
Oh, and a border terrier makes more noise than a big dog, much higher pitched and very persistant, never gives up. The owners are partly to blame, for the noise at least.