A Brighton man suspected of killing a cat near Brighton railway station has been re-arrested and his court date rescheduled for December.
Click here to read the PoC article posted June 8. The 52-year-old man was originally placed under arrest following an 18-month investigation into the deaths of 25 cats. His first bail carried him until June 28 when he was rebailed until August 21.
The latest rearrest and questioning puts the man back on the streets until December 10, 2019 after being re-arrested on September 11. While this may be a bad thing for potential cat victims and their families, it will also give police time to gather even more evidence against the accused. In the end, this could be a good thing if it results in a harsher sentence.
A police statement reported by The Argus said
“A 52-year-old man arrested in connection with cat deaths in Brighton has been re-arrested, questioned and bailed until December 10 for further enquiries to take place.”
Divisional Commander Chief Superintendent Nick May of Bright and Hove stated during an interview with Brighton & Hove News
“This is a complex investigation involving ongoing forensic work and consultations with our Crown Prosecution Service colleagues. We remain committed to this case, seeking answers as to how these cats died and obtaining justice for their owners.”
The accused was first arrested after investigators obtained security camera surveillance footage of the area near Trafalgar Street in Brighton dated June 1 that showed enough of the now deceased cat being injured (the cat later died) to warrant an arrest on June 2. Charges on suspicion of criminal damage and having an offensive weapon in a public place were made.
Whether new witnesses have been traced or whether the witness police sought back in June after he was observed petting the cat (shortly before the cat was attacked) has been found is unclear. So is the accusation the man charged is also the person responsible for killing or seriously injuring more than two dozen cats.
In the PoC article I did ask for anyone with more information on this case to come forward, three months down the road no one has commented either in the Facebook comment section nor in the moderated section. I’m unsure whether this means no further information is known or whether there is so little interest in this case no one bothered (that happens WAY more than people realize).
Once again I ask anyone with more information to leave it in the comment section following this article. To leave it on individual Facebook threads where the case is shared means very few are seeing those comments.
And I’ll say it again. Brighton residents should have learned by now to KEEP YOUR CATS INDOORS!
