Shropshire Star

Market Drayton puppy kicking case details 'exaggerated'

A man kicked a puppy so hard it flew through a kitchen doorway and into a garden, a court was told.

Published

But Simon Caldecott told a court that the case had been exaggerated and that he did not deserve to be punished.

Caldecott took an oath on the witness stand of Telford Magistrates Court to say that, although he had pleaded guilty to a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, the facts of the case had been overblown.

Caldecott, who was not legally represented in court, admitted that he had kicked the puppy, but said it had been in the form of a shove with his foot as he tried to stop it eating pieces of an Xbox games console that had just been smashed during a row with his partner.

He said that although the puppy was only seven weeks old, as an Alsatian–Husky cross it was still quite big and could never have been kicked out of the door in the way described by the prosecution.

The defendant told magistrates that the puppy had run out of the door, not been kicked out, and was "absolutely fine".

Caldecott, 26, also admitted one charge of assault by beating and was given a 12-month conditional discharge for both offences.

As well as the conditional discharge he was ordered to pay £250 of various court costs.

Mr Adam Warner, prosecuting, said the incident had stemmed from a row between Caldecott and his partner on the morning of July 23 at their home in Market Drayton.

Mr Warner said that the victim had gone to sit on the outside step of their kitchen when the defendant had slammed the door shut, hitting her in the back.

The woman then entered the house, grabbed the defendant's Xbox and smashed it on to the floor, said Mr Warner, who then said that Caldecott had kicked the puppy "with such force that it flew out of the kitchen and into the back garden".

Caldecott, of Berrisford Close, Market Drayton, who had no previous convictions, vehemently denied kicking the dog out of the back door. He said the animal was "absolutely fine" afterwards and that he had simply wanted to get it away from the broken pieces of the games console.

Magistrates accepted his version of events during Wednesday's hearing and Caldecott's mitigation that he had slammed the door because he no longer wanted to hear his partner moaning and had not meant to hit her when he did it. He said that the row took place after he had worked a night shift and was tired.

Sorry, we are not accepting comments on this article.