A mother who stabbed her son's dog with a samurai sword while it lay sleeping on a sofa has been jailed for 18 months. Alicia Darcy, 54, from Sandbach, Cheshire, initially claimed self-defence, telling police the animal had attacked her.
Officers who attended the scene on 12 October last year found the sword still embedded in the dog's torso. The animal was in a 'sleeping position' on the sofa, according to Cheshire Police. Darcy was intoxicated at the time of the incident.
She later admitted causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and possession of an offensive weapon in a private place at Chester Crown Court. The court also imposed a lifetime ban on owning or keeping dogs, and ordered the destruction of the sword.
PC Charlotte Owen described the case as 'very distressing' and said: 'The level of cruelty was abhorrent. She left the dog to die with the sword embedded in it. It is incomprehensible how someone could not only inflict such violence on an animal but then be so callous as to leave it to suffer.'
