Man who scalped and beheaded cats jailed

Published on Monday 22 June 2009 22:52

A MAN was jailed yesterday and banned from keeping animals for life after he admitted a horrific catalogue of cruelty against his neighbours' pets.

Anthony Docherty, 23, tortured five cats – scalping two and decapitating three more.

He killed them in January after capturing them and keeping them imprisoned in the bedroom of the home he shared with his parents in Clarkston, Renfrewshire.

Docherty carried out a series of sickening acts of cruelty. Court reports said that he could eventually pose a similar threat to humans. He pled guilty to seven charges of cruelty during an earlier hearing.

At Paisley Sheriff Court yesterday, procurator fiscal Rebecca Hoskins said he was caught after police called at his house to make routine inquiries into the cats' disappearances.

She said: "Once there, they heard the cats in an upstairs bedroom. Two of the animals were found. Both were alive but very distressed. Docherty told the officers it was his intention to release the animals that night.

"A further search a couple of days later saw police find two cat skulls in the garden. Docherty was taken in for questioning and told police that his goal was to harm the cats. He didn't think that he had tortured the cats but wanted to 'make them scream a bit'."

The court also heard that he cut one of the cat's heads off with a tree surgeon's saw "because the eyes were looking at him". Defending, Johnathon Manson admitted the case was one of the most disturbing he had come across. But his client had expressed "remorse" for the suffering.

The court heard Docherty came from a supportive family but was bullied at school.

"He suffers from severe dyslexia and ADHD and there have also been a number of incidents of self-harm," Mr Manson said.

Sentencing Docherty, Sheriff Neil Douglas said: "You knew what you were doing and are criminally responsible. You pleaded guilty to some extremely cruel behaviour and caused these animals unnecessary suffering. For that, I impose the maximum sentence of 12 months, reduced to eight due to your early guilty plea."