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Security guard, 54, who stabbed nine cats to death & hurting 7 more in sick campaign caught on tape knifing animal

2021-07-01 00:00:00.0 太阳报-英国新闻原网页

A SECURITY guard found guilty of stabbing nine cats to death and injuring seven more has been caught on tape knifing an innocent animal.

Chilling footage showed Steve Bouquet, 54, attacking the cat as part of his sick campaign which saw 16 pets in Brighton, East Sussex, killed or injured.

Chilling footage shows the man chasing the cat down a road 5

Steve Bouquet, 54, has been found guilty of stabbing nine cats to death and injuring seven more Credit: Hyde News & Pictures 5

The cat then dashes away from the scene

Bouquet was today found guilty of 16 offences of criminal damage, in relation to the cats, and possession of a knife at Chichester Crown Court.

He could face up to ten years in jail after cops used vets' bills to ensure he received the maximum punishment available, according to the Telegraph.

Rather than convict him of animal cruelty - which carries a six month maximum sentence - Sussex Police charged Bouquet with criminal damage, claiming that the pets represented property.

And chilling footage shows the moment Bouquet struck one of his victims after bending down to stroke the cat in a passageway linking Church Street and North Road in Brighton.

He can then be seen pulling something out of a bag before appearing to attempt to strike the cat. The cat then rushes away from the scene.

Cops said the CCTV was instrumental in catching Bouquet.

The cat killer was able to move through the city unseen and unheard as he knifed people’s beloved pets, his trial heard.

His twisted campaign of attacks went on for several months between October 2018 and June 2019.

Nine cats - Hendrix, Tommy, Hannah, Alan, Nancy, Gizmo, Kyo, Ollie and Cosmo - were killed while another seven were injured.

The cat killer was able to move through the city unseen and unheard as he knifed people’s beloved pets, his trial heard Credit: PA 5

In his police interview read out in court, Bouquet told cops he was “no threat to animals” Credit: eddie mitchell

And during the trial, jurors heard accounts from several devastated cat owners who had found their pets bleeding on their doorsteps.

Tina Randall told of the horrifying moment she discovered her 11-year-old cat Gideon had been injured in November 2018.

She told the court: “He was fading and as I picked him up, blood splurted out. I immediately thought it was a stab wound.”

Gideon eventually recovered from the three-quarter inch wound - but vet bills for his surgery came to more than ￡1,600, the court heard.

Jeff Carter described finding a pool of blood on his doorstep in Shaftesbury Road and finding his cat Nancy hiding underneath his bed and “bleeding heavily” in March 2019.

The cat suffered a cardiac crash and was given CPR and put on a ventilator but did not survive her injuries.

Jurors heard how Craig Neeld had been walking along Shaftesbury Road on the same day that Nancy was found stabbed.

In his statement, he described receiving a phone call from his friend Barry, who asked him to look out for a "guy acting really odd".

Mr Neeld said he saw a bald man who was "bending over and moving his arms" as if operating a camera phone and thought he was "up to no good".

He later identified Bouquet as the man he had seen at a police identification procedure, the court heard.