A psychological profiler working on the Croydon Cat Killer case believe that the killer who often beheads the animals and leave them on people’s doorsteps may be acting on “dark and deviant sexual fantasies”.
Pippa Gregory said:
“[This is] not your average animal abuse, you get plenty of animal abuse… It is the post-mortem mutilation and the need to deposit [the bodies] that is particularly interesting.”
Although such crimes are rare, she says that past perpetrators “have been found to have quite dark and deviant sexual fantasies”.
The Croydon cat killer has struck across Britain. He or she has operated with impunity in south London for two years and is believed to have claimed the lives of up to 250 animals in various locations in the UK. Although the animals are primarily domestic cats, they also include squirrels rabbits and foxes.
It is also believed that these are not copycat killings and mutilations because there was a very recent signature injury on a squirrel which could not have been replicated in a copycat killing.
It is nice to know that Scotland Yard has deployed 10 officers and also enlisted the help of the National Crime Agency (NCA). I recall that they have expended well over 1000 hours of work in trying to catch the person or people responsible and bring them to justice.
The South Norwood Animal Rescue Liberty organisation is assisting the police with its enquiries. Tony Jenkins of that organisation said:
“We are now looking at around 250 killings”.
It is believed that the killer may have been targeting cats since 2011. This goes back further than was previously believed. The Met said:
“Police investigating a number of incidents relating to animal mutilations across the borough, and elsewhere, are continuing to appeal for any information from the public that could assist help bring the person of people responsible to justice”.
This is obviously a very difficult crime to detect and pin down. It is time that it was brought to a close.
Source: hardcopy of the Sunday Times of 18th June 2017.
