Gardener ‘drowned neighbour’s cat because it kept digging up his vegetables’

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A gardener faces jail for drowning his neighbour's cat because it kept digging up vegetables from his plot.

Richard Giles admitted to grabbing the tabby cat named Ruby after she repeatedly made her way into his garden, then cruelly drowned her in water.

The 69-year-old, who said the cat was 'ruining' his crops, was confronted by Ruby's owner, Shirley Gear-Evans, 65, who spent two days looking for her pet.

But she claims Mr Giles didn't apologise for killing her cat but openly admitted to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal as he said he was 'driven to it.'

It is not known how he drowned the cat but there are drums of water on his land in the village of Adber, near Sherborne.

Shirley said: 'Ruby went missing in September and I was outside looking for her on Saturday night and on the Sunday.

"I was worried she might have gone into Richard's farm and become trapped or hurt herself. When I saw him on the Monday, I asked him if he had seen her and he made no bones about killing her.

"'I was horrified, he admitted killing her as soon as I asked him he said, "you won't find her, she's gone, I've killed her".

"He showed no remorse, I think he drowned her in one of his water drums on his farm. But he's never apologised, I don't think he's sorry. He doesn't care."

Ms Gear-Evans, who used to work for the NHS, never saw her cat again and has no idea what happened to her body.

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However, in one phone call with Giles he allegedly told her that Ruby was "lying dead on his table."

Giles' callous act has sparked outrage in the tiny hamlet of Adber, near Sherborne. The villagers are said to be 'sickened' by it, leading some to call him a 'disturbed b*****d.'

The animal rights group PETA urged magistrates to throw the book at him when he appears at Weymouth Magistrates' Court for a pre-sentencing report on April 6 after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

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Director of PETA, Elisa Allen said: "The fear and pain this cat endured at this man's hands is deeply disturbing, and he must be deeply disturbed.

"Anyone who causes such agony and inflicts this degree of violence on an animal poses a risk to the entire community.

"PETA implores Weymouth Magistrates' Court to impose the maximum sentence, including a lifetime ban on keeping animals."

• Animals
• Courts

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