CONVICTED: Was justice served?
more information on voting
When you vote, you are voting on whether or not the punishment fit the crime, NOT on the severity of the case itself. If you feel the sentence was very weak, you would vote 1 star. If you feel the sentence was very strong, you would vote 5 stars.
Please vote honestly and realistically. These ratings will be used a a tool for many future programs, including a "People’s Choice" of best and worst sentencing, DA and judge "report cards", and more. Try to resist the temptation to vote 1 star on every case, even if you feel that 100 years in prison isn’t enough.
Case #6558 Rating: 3.0 out of 5
9 puppies abandoned in hot vehicle
Dorset, EN (UK)Incident Date: Thursday, May 20, 2004
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: John Walsh
Case Updates: 3 update(s) available
A dog dealer who left nine puppies in a car on a hot day in May last year has been found guilty of animal cruelty.
John Walsh, 55, of Brampton, Cumbria, left the dogs in sweltering heat on Weymouth quay, Dorset, to get a ferry to Jersey as a foot passenger. Walsh, who denied causing unnecessary suffering, faces a six-month sentence. Walsh will be sentenced next month.
In Blandford Magistrates Court, Dorset, was heard that the dogs were only found after a parking attendant heard their whimpers. As well as facing jail Wicklow-born Walsh could also be fined £5,000 and be disqualified from keeping animals.
The case has now been adjourned for sentencing at the same court until 11 January 2006.
We hope that the courts consider a disqualification in this case in view of his previous conviction to prevent any further incidences like this occurring again. David Macpherson, chairman of the bench, said: "Mr Walsh left the puppies in certain knowledge that he would not get back until 3pm - a period of not less than eight hours."
The court heard Walsh left six Jack Russells, two Papillons and a Bichon Frise in his Vauxhall Astra on 20 May 2004. The eight-week-old puppies were discovered by a parking attendant and police were called. A policeman's evidence described the heat coming from the car "like a sauna from a health centre" and that the puppies were "panting heavily".
Walsh avoided police and an RSPCA inspector waiting for him at Weymouth quayside by hiding inside a van as he left the ferry. The court heard he did not try to recover his car or the puppies.
Case Updates| A Cumbrian dog breeder has had his appeal against a conviction for animal cruelty rejected. John Walsh from Brampton has been banned from keeping dogs for life and ordered to pay court costs of nearly fifty thousand pounds. He was found guilty of animal cruelty earlier this year after leaving puppies in a parked car on a hot day at Weymouth ferry park while he took others to Jersey. | Source: iTV - June 28, 2006
Update posted on Jun 28, 2006 - 2:42PM |
John Walsh, of Low Row, near Brampton, was ordered to pay almost £2,300 to Allana Hamilton after she won a case of unfair dismissal yesterday.
Mr Walsh, who was convicted in December of animal cruelty after he left nine puppies in a car on a hot day, walked out of the Carlisle tribunal after the chair refused his request to postpone the hearing.
Miss Hamilton, 22, said she worked for him from March to October under a verbal contract and looked after 50 kennels virtually by herself. She said the day before she was due to leave for a holiday, she received a text message from Mr Walsh which said: "Sorry, I have to let you go, things aren't working out. Get in touch when you get back from holiday."
When she phoned him on her return, he said if she ever wanted to see October's wages she would have to find herself a lawyer, the tribunal heard.
Mr Walsh said he had discovered documents which would prove Miss Hamilton was overpaid.
Tribunal chairman Jeremy Hargrove said there was no explanation why he had not raised this issue earlier. He said Mr Walsh "put forward no valid defence whatsoever".
Miss Hamilton's claims of breach of contract and wrongful dismissal were well-founded, he said, and she was entitled to three weeks' wages, one week's holiday pay and one week's notice. This was increased by 30 per cent as compensation for the delay in payment, amounting to £2,294.
Miss Hamilton, of Barnhill, Dumfries, is now back in the job she gave up to go and work in the kennels.
Mr Walsh was ordered to pay a legal bill of £35,000 after he was convicted of animal cruelty in December. Dorset magistrates heard how he left six Jack Russells, two papillons and a bichon frise in his Vauxhall Astra in sweltering heat. Mr Walsh is appealing the conviction at Dorchester Crown Court on June 26. | Source: Cumberland News - April 28, 2006
Update posted on Apr 28, 2006 - 3:51PM |
| A man who abandoned puppies in a car park has been banned from keeping animals for ten years. Fifty five year old John Walsh left nine puppies in soaring temperatures in a car in Weymouth while he caught a ferry to Jersey. | Source: Jersey Insight - January 2006
Update posted on Jan 15, 2006 - 9:32AM |
References
|
