MAN KICKED HIS PET DOG TO DEATH
ACONSTRUCTION business owner kicked his pet dog to death in a “cowardly and vicious” attack after he came home drunk. Matthew Benjamin was heard by his housemate returning to his home in Chepstow in the early hours of December 4 after going out drinking.
The 37-year-old called the Staffordshire bull terrier, named Diesel, “in a soft voice” and took him to the kitchen where the housemate overheard him scream before launching a violent attack.
The housemate said he overheard Benjamin shout “this f***ing dog is going to die” before kicking him “more than 100 times”.
Benjamin was arrested by Gwent Police officers but the dog had died by the time they arrived.
Prosecutor Paul Ricketts outlined the facts of the case at a hearing in Newport Magistrates’ Court on Friday.
Mr Ricketts said the police were alerted to the incident by a man who shared a house near Chepstow with Benjamin at the time of the incident.
Quoting his witness testimony, Mr Ricketts said the man heard Benjamin walk into the property and call the dog “in a soft voice” three or four times. The dog then ran out of the housemate’s bedroom.
“I heard Matthew and the dog go into the kitchen because I could hear claws on the kitchen floor,” the witness said. “The kitchen door was closed and there was silence for a few minutes. Then suddenly I heard Matthew scream.”
He said he heard Benjamin shout “stop pissing on the f***ing floor” before the dog began to “scream and yelp”.
“I could hear every impact against the dog’s body,” he said.
The witness said the noise was so distressing “I was sick in the bedroom because of the trauma”.
Mr Ricketts said the man went to the kitchen door but he was unable to push it open.
The police were called and Benjamin was arrested.
The witness said: “It is so upsetting to think about the suffering the dog went through. It was a lovely dog and it was defenceless.”
Benjamin, of Earlswood Road, Shirenewton, Monmouthshire, pleaded guilty to a single charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Andrew Twomlow, defending, said Benjamin entered his guilty plea on the basis that Diesel was kicked six or seven times. This was accepted by the court.
He said his client owned a business called Honeybadger Construction that employed up to 20 people prior to the incident, but he had since had to let many go.
Mr Twomlow said his client had been the subject of “public outrage”.
“He has suffered a degree of vilification in the public, so much so that he has difficulty coming to Chepstow,” he said.
Mr Twomlow said his client deserved credit for his admissions to the police and his early guilty plea.
Judge David Parsons said: “In essence this was a cowardly and vicious attack on a harmless animal where you showed no empathy for its suffering.”
Benjamin was handed a 17-week prison sentence and was banned from keeping any animals for life. He is barred from appealing the disqualification order for 10 years. He must also pay a £122 surcharge.