A Brighton man accused of stabbing 16 cats was caught on CCTV installed by the owner of one of his previous victims, a court heard today.
Steve Bouquet, 54, who worked as a security guard at Churchill Square, was filmed stabbing a cat called Hendrix on May 31, 2019 by a camera installed by CCTV engineer Alan Levy.
Mr Levy had installed the camera outside his house in Crown Gardens in the North Laine after his own cat, Hannah, had been stabbed the previous October. Neither cat survived.
Prosecuting at Chichester Crown Court, Rowan Jenkins said Hendrix’s owners, Stewart Montgomery and Agatha Altwegg, had found Mr Levy’s camera after following a trail of blood left by the cat when it fled home after being stabbed.
He said: “[Mr Bouquet] appears to show affection to the cat seemingly stroking it. but you will see from the recording, an this is a recording that will be in evidence . . . you can see that as he goes down to the cat Facing sideways, he seems to take something from his rucksack.
“As the cat lying down in front of him, you will not actually be able to make out any weapon but you can see a sudden jerk from the defendant’s arm.
“This is the moment when, we say, the defendant stabs Hendrix with some force.
“Immediately, he reacts by getting to his feet and disappearing under a gate which is his home. The defendant is seen to rearrange his rucksack and continues to walk north.
“As he passes the gateway to Hendrix’s home, where he’s just running, he in turn glances in.”
Mr Jenkins said Bouquet was also captured walking along the same street, both minutes after the stabbing and the following day, apparently rattled by the existence of cameras which might have caught him in the act.
All the CCTV was sent to police, and meanwhile Mr Levy regularly checked his live CCTV in case the killer returned.
On June 2, he saw Bouquet, and alerted police. Police investigator Daniel Cummins took the call as he happened to be walking out of Brighton Station, and was able to locate Bouquet in nearby Frederick Place, where he was arrested.
Bouquet was wearing the same rucksack seen in the CCTV, and was also carrying a Leatherman multi-tool with a 2.6inch locking knife.
His phone was examined, and although it didn’t have location data for every day, digital forensic consultant Stephen Fisher-Davies was able to match what was found to times and locations where nine other cats had been attacked.
His home in Rose Hill Gardens was searched, and police found a knife with Bouquet’s DNA on the handle and traces of cat blood on the blade and sheath.
During a series of lengthy police interviews, Bouquet consistently said that he was not responsible for the cats’ injuries. Mr Jenkins told the jury it is up to the prosecution to prove he did.
!Alleged Cat Killer’ …. Get it right of you could be sued..
I find it both illogical and heartbreaking that someone accused of killing peoples beloved pets has to be charged with criminal damage as there is no more appropriate offence. Whoever has been doing this has caused pain and suffering to these animals and huge distress to their owners. We need a law against causing pain and suffering to animals and deliberately causing their death, and it should carry a mandatory jail sentence.
He’ll be getting porridge if found guilty.
The value of the criminal damage has been set at £16k so
the sentencing range is 6 months to 4 years custody dependent on culpability and harm caused.
Given the public interest I doubt he will get a suspended sentence.