Stefan McCormick, 35, of Woodchurch Lane in Prenton, has been sentenced for sending abusive messages to his former partner, accusing her of killing their cat. The offences occurred over an 18-hour period on December 29 2024, when he sent her 37 voice notes.
Abusive messages over cat death
At Liverpool Crown Court on Friday, August 14, prosecutor Helen Chenery said: "[She] made it known to McCormick that the cat had died on December 29. Over a period of 18 hours, from midday to 5am, he sent her 37 voice notes, all of which the prosecution say are extremely abusive, some of which are threatening."
Chenery added: "The majority of the messages are to do with the cat. He repeatedly accuses her of either directly or indirectly being responsible for the cat's death. He calls her 'a dirty cat killing c***, all you want to do is kill cats'."
During the tirade, McCormick told his ex-girlfriend: "I might have killed a dog but I didn't kill you."
Previous conviction for killing puppy
This was not the first time McCormick had appeared in court for a case involving animals. In August 2014, he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to his four-month-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier after attacking the puppy so violently it had to be put down.
McCormick initially claimed his dog, called Ty, had been hit by a car. But experts said the injuries suggested the dog’s legs “might have been pulled apart with a great deal of force”, or that it may have been "picked up by the front legs and swung against a solid object”.
He was jailed for 24 weeks in October 2014. The sentence was ordered to run consecutively with a 20-month prison term he was already serving for battering his teenage girlfriend.
Further offences and sentencing
McCormick was put back behind bars in 2017, receiving a 17-month sentence for wounding. In April 2020, he was sent to prison again after verbally abusing medics at Arrowe Park Hospital and throwing a bloodied tissue at a security guard during the Covid-19 lockdown.
In court on Friday, audio footage of McCormick's messages to his ex-partner, sent on December 29 2024, were played. He said: "I don't want no one getting hurt but what I want, what I want, what I want at the end of the day, you and all of your family, you've got to remember it's you, you killed Cleo, you dirty c***."
David Polglase, defending, said: "The defendant is 35; he's therefore still a young man and he clearly has a different side from what your honour has heard on that recording." He added: "He's not been taking drugs for some considerable period of time now. There is personal mitigation. The court has seen his medical history. Fortunately he's now in remission from the cancer he suffers from."
The Recorder sentenced McCormick to seven months in prison, suspended for 18 months, and 15 rehabilitation days. A restraining order was also made banning him from contacting his former partner for five years.
