Brighton cat killer Steve Bouquet jailed for more than five years

A security guard who carried out a campaign of cat killings in Brighton has been jailed for more than five years.

Steve Bouquet was behind a campaign of maiming and stabbing cats around Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019.

He killed nine - Hendrix, Tommy, Hannah, Alan, Nancy, Gizmo, Kyo, Ollie and Cosmo - and wounded another seven in the attacks.

Owners of some of the cats were at Hove Crown Court to see the 54-year-old receive a five years and three months prison sentence.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC said Bouquet’s behaviour was “cruel, it was sustained and it struck at the very heart of family life”.

Bouquet, who denied 16 counts of criminal damage and possession of a knife, insisted to police that he was “no threat to animals” and had only learned of the killings from news reports.

However a photo of a dead cat was found on his phone, and the shopping centre security guard was captured on CCTV set up by an owner of a dead cat.

During the trial jurors heard accounts from several cat owners who had found their pets bleeding on their doorsteps.

Tina Randall discovered her 11-year-old cat Gideon had been injured in November 2018, telling the court: “He was fading and as I picked him up, blood splurted out.”

Jeff Carter found his wounded cat Nancy hiding underneath the bed after being attacked, and she later died from her injuries.

After the verdicts, Judge Gold said: "I suggest it is only really during lockdown it has been particularly clear how much many of us who have pets rely on them for companionship and comfort.

"One can only imagine the distress that was caused to the owners of those various cats in this case at the very thought of having a knife plunged into their beloved pet."

A knife with feline blood on the blade and Bouquet’s DNA on the handle were later recovered from his home.

“This has been a tragic case for all the owners involved”, said Jayne Cioffi from the CPS.

“Not only did Steve Bouquet inflict horrendous suffering to each of the animals he attacked, but he also caused real trauma to their owners, many of whom found their beloved pets injured and bleeding.

“None of us can comprehend what drove Bouquet to do this to family pets. His claims that it was simply chance that he was present at various times when the animals were attacked were rightly dismissed by the jury after being disproved by the investigation and prosecution work.

“The CPS will always seek to prosecute people for cruelty to animals, either pets or other wildlife, where cases pass our legal test.”