A man has been jailed and banned from keeping a dog for three years after a fatal attack on a 21-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier. Francis Croft, 63, from Blackley, kicked and hit the dog, named Georgie, with an ashtray and a mop handle at a flat in Manchester on March 16.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Croft, who has a dog himself, claimed he launched the attack after being bitten by Georgie. However, the court was told there was no evidence for this, and the judge said that even if the dog had bitten him, it would provide no justification for what he did.
Attack at a neighbour's flat
Prosecuting, Peter Malone told how Croft attended the home of Bradley Crewe, who lives near him. Croft wanted to enter Mr Crewe’s flat but was ‘prevented from entering’ by a woman. Despite this, he gained access to the flat, where several people were present along with Georgie.
“It was known that the dog didn’t like Mr Croft,” Mr Malone said. Croft was said to be behaving in a ‘rowdy’ manner. He later claimed Georgie bit him, but he did not mention this to police in the aftermath, and Mr Malone said there was no evidence of this happening.
Croft then kicked Georgie to the side, causing the dog to ‘yelp in pain’. He went to the kitchen and picked up a wooden mop handle, which he hit the dog with. Then he picked up an ashtray and began hitting the dog with it ‘a number of times’. “The dog was described as crying in pain,” Mr Malone said.
Fatal injuries and aftermath
Following the attack, Georgie remained ‘motionless’ and blood was coming from the dog’s head. A vet found that the animal had suffered a skull fracture and a traumatic brain injury. It was decided that due to the injuries, Georgie should be put down.
A witness said that in the aftermath of the attack, they had heard Croft saying ‘he had done Brad’s dog’. Mr Crewe said he had looked after Georgie since he was just weeks old, and since then the dog had become ‘part of the family’. He described Georgie as a ‘kind-hearted creature’ who was no longer very active and ‘just potted around the house’.
“To end his life in such a violent way was really distressing to him,” Mr Malone said of Mr Crewe.
Sentencing and remorse
Defending, Hayley Bennett said Croft wanted to express his apologies and had told how it was ‘such a stupid thing to do’. “He does himself have a dog,” Ms Bennett said. “He does have a care for animals.”
Sentencing judge Nicholas Dean KC said of Croft: “I think he was out of his head, to put it in a colloquial sense, and he did what he did.” The judge said Croft was a ‘chronic and long term’ abuser of drugs. Ms Bennett said that at the time, Croft had also stopped taking medication for his mental health.
Judge Dean told Croft: “You have expressed remorse and you have apologised for what you did to Georgie. You attacked a 21-year-old dog, that is a very elderly dog, and in effect you killed the dog. This was a very cruel thing to do. Whether the dog bit you or not is neither here nor there. This was not in any sense provoked. Even if the dog did bite you, it didn’t deserve to have the battering you gave it.”
Croft, of Liverton Court, Blackley, pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
