Brighton cat killer charged with 16 counts of criminal damage, which carries a harsher penalty than animal cruelty
This article is an update on the Brighton cat killer. In a previous article on PoC I reported a 52-year-old man was placed under arrest for the deaths of 25 cats. The numbers have changed, he’s being charged with a crime more serious than animal cruelty, and we now know his name.
Samson survived and underwent 2 operations (BBC screenshot)
Steven Bouquet, 52 from the London Road area of Brighton is a security guard. He’s charged with 16 counts of criminal damage against cats committed between October 2, 2018 and June 1, 2019.
Nine cats were reported killed and another seven suffered serious injuries. He was also charged with possessing a knife in public back in June, according to Sussex police.
The cat mutilations were especially heinous as Bouquet is accused of brutally stabbing the cats and leaving them to die on the streets or to crawl home with serious or fatal injuries.
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Poppy died from his injuries (The Argus)
Charging Bouquet with criminal damage carries a tougher sentence than animal cruelty did. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) says not to allow this type of charge to detract from the seriousness of cats being killed and seriously injured.
Sally Lakin, South East District Crown Prosecutor stated during an interview with Evening Standard
Following a spate of attacks on cats in the Brighton area, the CPS has authorised Sussex Police to charge Steven Bouquet with 16 charges of criminal damage, relating to attacks on 16 cats, nine of which were killed and seven were seriously injured.
This is a complex case and this decision was made following a careful review of all of the evidence presented to us. Criminal proceedings against this defendant are now active and he has a right to a fair trial.
It is extremely important that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in any way prejudice these proceedings.
DailyMail.com reported Bouquet was arrested after public outcry that police weren’t doing enough to find the cat killer. He wasn’t charged with animal cruelty because he didn’t own any of the cats. (Which is INSANE! What kind of a law is that?)
Bouquet is out of jail on bail and is set to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on January 23.
If someone closer to the case has additional information on how the total count went from 25 to 16, please leave it in the comment section following the article.
