Dog killer ‘won’t harm community’

A CONVICTED animal killer screamed out in court he “wasn’t a threat to the public” before being placed back on remand for further tests.

Bradley Simpson, 24, mutilated his mother’s dog Buddy shortly after being released from police custody earlier this year.

Simpson was upset about being locked up for a longer period when he appeared in person at Dundee Sheriff Court yesterday.

As his solicitor Theo Finlay negotiated further time for him to be seen by social workers, Simpson took the unusual step of trying to speak to Sheriff John Rafferty himself.

He shouted: “I know I’ll be fine in the community.

“It’s prison which is making my mental health bad. I won’t be a harm to the community.”

At a hearing last week, solicitor Carolyn Leckie called for more time to gather psychiatric reports for Simpson, who she said had become a “target” in prison.

She told the court Simpson’s mental health had been “deteriorating” since he was remanded in custody ahead of his trial this year.

She said: “He was in segregation because of his mental health. The services have let everyone down badly.

“Myself and my colleague have written to the NHS and the Scottish Government expressing our concerns about the lack of mental health care.

“He would be able to access better mental health care in the community. He is also a target in prison.”

The remains of Buddy the German shepherd were found burned and buried in a shallow grave in a public park after the horrific attack.

Simpson was remanded in custody after he admitted stabbing the dog to death with a screwdriver at his family home in Dundee on April 1 this year. He admitted causing a protected animal unnecessary suffering by repeatedly stabbing it in the city’s Honeygreen Road and Linlathen Park.

A not guilty plea to a charge alleging he then burned and buried the dog in the park was accepted by the Crown.

Sheriff Rafferty deferred sentence for further reports until July 19.

Simpson was locked up pending the preparation of reports after a sheriff was told he had already been freed five times on bail before the attack.

Tragic Buddy.