Violent drunk fatally stabbed 'beloved' dog in the neck and strangled landlady - months after breaking man's leg in Shrewsbury pub rampage
A violent drunk has been jailed after breaking a man’s leg in a pub rampage, strangling his landlady and committing a “grotesque” attack on a defenceless dog which had to be put down.
Richard Forbes, aged 49, was locked up for seven and a half years and banned from owning animals for 30 years after his “horrific” crimes were laid bare at Shrewsbury Crown Court.
Shocking CCTV footage was shown of Forbes violently attacking three people after he went out “looking for a fight” in the Tumbledown Hotel, opposite Shrewsbury railway station in Castle Foregate.
And his former landlady at the home he shared with her in Meole Brace bravely took to the witness stand to tell the court how she thought Forbes would kill her.
She revealed the harrowing ordeal her Pomeranian dog Comet suffered at his hands, and said she had “sobbed and sobbed and sobbed” after telling her treasured pet “I love you, little girl,” before she was put to sleep.
Firstly the court was told of the pub attack, which took place at around 8.10pm on July 28, 2023.
CCTV footage appeared to show Forbes pushing a woman who was sitting at the bar, before a man much smaller than him bravely stepped in to usher him away.
Forbes then hit that man in the face and knocked him to the ground, before flooring another man who appeared to be trying to calm the situation.
He left the pub and a barmaid phoned the police, but Forbes came back and saw what she was doing. He emptied a bottle of Corona beer and threw it at her, before storming out again.
Staff and customers tried to help the two men up and sit them down, but one of the men had suffered a broken leg and could not get up on his own.
When the other man who Forbes attacked came to, he found the back of his head was bleeding.
Forbes was later arrested on the same night outside Albert’s Shed in Barker Street, where door staff were restraining him on the floor after he had just attacked a customer. No charges were brought for that incident.
When interviewed he told officers he did not know what happened, saying he was drunk at the time.
'I worried I would never walk on that leg again'
The man whose leg was broken by Forbes ended up needing surgery and metalwork to fix the fracture.
In a victim impact statement, he said he was unable to leave home for three months after the attack due to his injuries.
“I became very worried I would never walk on that leg again,” he said. “If I work a shift it starts aching and causing me pain.”
The court was then told the brutal details about Forbes’ furious assault on his landlady and her pet dog, which took place on June 29 last year.
Forbes rented a room in her three-bed house in Meole Brace. He came home late on the night in question with a female friend and was making noise.
His landlady shouted at him to “be quiet”, before going downstairs to try and get some sleep on the sofa.
Forbes’s companion left, so the landlady went back upstairs to go to her bedroom, only to find him asleep on the landing next to a pile of his own sick.
She stepped over him to go to her room but he followed her in.
She told him “go to bed,” but Forbes pushed her onto her own bed and got on top of her.
He appeared to fall asleep, so the landlady attempted to flee, only for Forbes to grab her by her pyjama top and put his hands around her throat.
Forbes fell off the bed and his victim made a run for it to a neighbour’s house.
While she was out of the house seeking refuge, Forbes wrapped Comet in a blanket, stabbed her twice with a kitchen knife and stamped on her.
The police were called and when they arrived he was trying to take the victim’s car.
Forbes was arrested and refused to give a blood sample in custody after attempting to take the car.
Officers took the landlady and Comet to a 24-hour emergency vet.
“Her injuries were too significant to recover from and the decision was made to put her to sleep that night,” said Suzanne Francis, prosecuting.
The landlady took to the stand to deliver her victim impact statement.
'He has destroyed my life'
She said: “When I think about what happened to Comet, I find myself sobbing like a baby. It’s hard to think about what he has done to my beloved dog.
“Upon returning to my address, I saw a large pool of blood like something from a horror movie. She had two stab wounds on her neck and three marks on her stomach. She must have suffered immensely. The attending officer was distraught.”
She told how Comet was lying on her lap on the way to the vet, before the sad news was delivered that the dog would not survive her injuries.
“I said ‘I love you little girl’, and she was put to sleep. I have cried so much since she died. I’ve sobbed and sobbed and sobbed. He (Forbes) has destroyed my life.
“Now Comet has gone, I have no-one to come home to. This has made me feel very sad.
“The vet bill was £141. They waived another £273 fee out of kindness because they were so horrified at the injuries.”
She told how Comet had a traumatic life before she was rescued. The landlady gave her a home in 2009.
The dog had been hit by a car in 2014 and a vet recommended she be put down. “I refused because I knew she’d pull through,” Forbes’s former landlady said.
Comet was an old dog, and her owner did not expect her to live much longer, but “she did not deserve to die in such horrific circumstances,” she said.
“She was my inspiration. She was the most beautiful little dog.“
Referring to her own suffering, she said: “I’m now feeling very scared, particularly when I’m alone in the house at night. The back of my neck still hurts. I thought he would kill me.
“I’ve tried to keep myself busy so I don’t have to think about what he did.
“I’ve been taking in lodgers for a decade and have had no trouble with any until now. I don’t think I will take any again because of what Richard has done.
“I’m selling my house. I just can’t bear to be there.
“I’m off sick from work with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). I’m having CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) to try and reduce the trauma.”
On Forbes, she said: “He’s normally a very nice man, but in drink he’s dangerous.”
Forbes, of no fixed abode, previously pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, affray, two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, intentional strangulation, causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, failing to provide a specimen and possession of cocaine. He has 29 previous convictions for 60 offences, including battery, robbery, a number of assaults and witness intimidation.
The court was told that before the pub attack, Forbes had been given the news that his twin grandchildren were stillborn, and that he had been physically and mentally abused in his own upbringing.
His barrister also told the court he went out “looking for a fight” on that evening.
He added that Forbes is “ashamed” of his attack on his landlady and Comet, and that he “should not expect forgiveness” from her.
Judge Richard McConaghy KC described the attack on Comet as “grotesque” and her injuries as “horrific”.
“You are nearly 50 and a time comes when responsibility has to lie at the door of your own actions,” he told Forbes.
“I have had to pay significant thought to the question of dangerousness,” he added. “It is plain to me you do pose a significant risk of the commission of further violent offences to members of the public.
As well as the jail term and ban from owning animals, Forbes was also disqualified from driving for 77 months and hit with a restraining order for 10 years, banning him from contacting his former landlady.
He will be eligible to request the lifting of the animal ownership ban in 20 years.