An undertaker nonchalantly rolled a cigarette and told his wife ‘dog bites, dog dies’ after drowning her pet.
Graham Richardson, 63, took Wilma, a miniature Yorkshire Terrier, into the garden during darkness and held her underwater in a pond after she nipped his nose when he startled her.
Prosecutor Rachel Glover said: ‘The defendant leaned in to kiss the dog, who nipped his nose due to being startled and he got a small cut to his nose. He became upset and said “She’s bit my f***ing nose, she will have to go”.’
At some point during the night, after already having had a drink, Richardson woke up, went for another bottle of wine that he started drinking in bed at his home in Whitley Bay, North Tyneside.
His wife woke up later and couldn’t find Wilma – later discovering the three-year-old pup’s soaking wet body in a plastic bag outside, at which point she began crying hysterically.
He kept repeating ‘The dog bites, the dog dies’. She contacted the police and officers arrived at 3.45 am.
Richardson, 63, of no fixed address, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
His employment as an undertaker with the Co-op was terminated earlier this week.
Prosecutor Glover said: ‘The dog was soaking wet and covered in algae. It appears he drowned the dog in the pond in their back garden.’
The court heard the couple are now back living together but before the reconciliation, his wife said in a victim impact statement: ‘This has had a devastating impact on me, I’m so shocked Graham would do this.
‘He has got drunk and angry on occasions but this is very unusual behaviour for him. I’m confused as to why it happened.
‘This has turned my life upside down. I really miss Wilma, who was a great companion and I still can’t believe this has happened to her.’
Richardson, of no fixed address, who has 14 previous convictions but nothing for animal cruelty, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.
Judge Edward Bindloss sentenced him to six months suspended for two years with a mental health treatment requirement. He was also banned from owning or keeping a dog for five years.
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The judge said: ‘This was a brief, violent inexplicable overreaction that had extreme consequences. Your wife describes your behaviour as unusual. You had never harmed an animal before and, in her view, would not harm an animal.’
Mark Harrison, defending, acknowledged the ‘absolutely appalling conduct and the long-term impact his behaviour will have had on his wife and other family members’.
‘There is no mitigating the act. It was an appalling act and was inexplicable,’ he added.
Mr Harrison said Richardson considered Wilma the family pet, is genuinely remorseful, has not drunk alcohol since it happened, has been seeing a crisis team and is now on medication.
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