A violent thug who used a claw hammer to batter a dog to death mocked his sentence and vowed he would do the same again to another animal.
Showing no remorse for his crime, unemployed Christopher Dance unleashed a string of obscenities outside Sittingbourne Magistrates Court on March 4 shouting: “I’m happy with what I got, I beat the s**t out of that dog and I’d do it again as well. This tag is nothing, I’ll p**s it and I p*iss on them [magistrates].”
Dance, formerly of Knightsfield Road, Sittingbourne, was found guilty of causing a Staffordshire bull terrier unnecessary suffering and failing to take reasonable steps to ensure the needs of another animal after a Jack Russell died as a result of a dog fight in his garden.
His conviction followed him abandoning four unfamiliar dogs, including one previously used for illegal dog-fights, for hours in his garden while he went to a party.
Sentencing the 23-year-old, Judge Tim Bucher banned Dance from leaving his Maidstone home in Melville Road between 9pm and 7am for the next six months. He will have to wear an electronic tag for the duration of the curfew.
He was also sentenced to a 24-month community order and will be required to report regularly to probation officers.
Mr Bucher also disqualified the yob from keeping or owning dogs for ten years and he ordered him to pay £750 in costs to animal charity the RSPCA.
The court heard how Dance obtained the bull terrier to make him feel more masculine after becoming fed up of living in an all-female household.
He claimed he killed the dog in self-defence after it killed a friend’s Jack Russell and attacked two other dogs. He said he swung out with the hammer and clipped the dog while protecting himself.
However, prosecution witnesses dismissed his claims as lies saying his injuries should have been substantial but he had only a small scratch on his thumb. They said the dog had multiple fractures and it’s “brain was mush” from being pummeled so many times.
A six-month-old puppy would later die as a result of its ordeal taking the toll of dead animals to three.
Speaking after the trial RSPCA Chief Inspector Dermot Murphy said: “Dance was responsible for the death of three dogs.
“We are satisfied with the sentence. Dance’s liberty will be restricted and together with the lengthy disqualification and impingement on his financial means we feel the punishment reflects the crime.”
POSTED: 09/03/2010 17:30:00
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