Security guard stabbed nine pet cats to death in Brighton, court hears
Shopping centre security guard, 54, stabbed nine pet cats to death and seriously injured seven more during 10-month killing spree in Brighton, court hears
- Steve Bouquet, 54, alleged to have approached cats on streets of Brighton
- Court heard he would show affection before taking out knife and stabbing them
- Wave of attacks from October 2018 to June 2019 left pet owners traumatised
- One neighbour claimed to have spotted Bouquet commit crime on CCTV and later spotted him in street
- He was charged with 16 counts of criminal damage and unlawful possession
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Steve Bouquet, 54, of Brighton, allegedly approached the pets close to their homes and began to show them affection before pulling out a knife and stabbed them with ‘force’. Pictured: Bouquet outside court in 2019
A security guard stabbed more than a dozen cats in a spate of killings which left owners ‘traumatised’, a court has heard.
Steve Bouquet, 54, of Brighton, allegedly approached the pets close to their homes and began to show them affection.
But it was heard that he would then reach into his rucksack and pulled out a knife and stabbed them with ‘force’ causing fatal or serious injuries.
He then walked off leaving the family pets, who suffered catastrophic injuries, to crawl home where many later dying from their injuries.
The wave of stabbings swept through central Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019, leaving pet owners emotionally traumatised and upset.
Bouquet, a security guard at Churchill Shopping Centre, is accused of killing nine cats and seriously injuring seven others.
He was charged 16 offences of criminal damage between October 2018 and June 2019, as under current legislation, cats and other animals are deemed to be property.
He was also charged with unlawfully possessing a Leatherman multi-tool in public.
Bouquet, who has not attended for his trial and is being tried in his absence, has denied the charges.
Rowan Jenkins, prosecuting, told Chichester Crown Court how the stabbings began in October 2018.
Bouquet is accused of killing nine cats between October 2018 and June 2019 including black cat Kyo (pictured)
The court heard that vets treating the cats had ruled out car accidents or falling from trees as the possible cause of the injuries. Pictured: Samson, who was injured
He said police launched an investigation after reports that domestic cats were being ‘deliberately stabbed’ in the street while close to their homes.
‘Some owners found that their cats were still alive and were able to take timely action to save them by rushing them to the vets. Not all were able to find them in time or indeed save them,’ he said.
The court heard that vets treating the cats had ruled out car accidents or falling from trees as the possible cause of the injuries.
Mr Jenkins added: ‘These were penetrative and clean wounds which in opinion of the vets was caused by a sharp knife. Someone was deliberately inflicting these injuries.
The wave of stabbings swept through central Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019, leaving pet owners emotionally traumatised and upset. Pictured: Bouquet outside court in 2019
‘Whoever was responsible was not just causing suffering to animals themselves but caused understandable trauma to owners which were affected emotionally and financially.’
Mr Jenkins told the jury that for almost a year police were clueless over the identity of the cat killer as more than a dozen feline victims were stabbed.
Then by chance, in May 2019, Bouquet was allegedly caught on a CCTV camera attacking Hendrix, a nine-month-old black kitten, who was sitting on a wall near his house.
The camera had been installed by Alan Levy, the owner of the second feline victim, Hannah, who died in October 2018.
Mr Jenkins said that in footage a passerby could be seen to stop and begin to show affection to Hendrix.
He told the jury: ‘He appears to show affection but as he goes he seems to take something from his rucksack and you will see a sudden jerk form the defendant’s arm which is the moment he stabs Hendrix with force.
‘Hendrix immediately gets to his feet and flees to his home. The defendant is seen to rearrange his rucksack and walks past the camera.’
However the court heard that just minutes later he returns and glances directly the CCTV camera which had caught the incident and repeatedly returns in the following two days to look at the camera again.
When Hendrix’s owners saw that he was bleeding on return to his home they rushed him to a vet.
He was bleeding heavily from both sides of his abdomen and immediately underwent surgery where the vet found he had lacerations to both kidneys. Efforts were made to save him but he later died.
When his owner, Stewart Montgomery, discovered his neighbour, Mr Levy, had a CCTV camera trained on the street he approached him and the pair viewed the footage of the stabbing.
Two days later, Mr Levy saw Bouquet walking past his house again on his live CCTV and immediately called police and officers who had been hunting the alleged cat killer for almost a year attended.
Bouquet was stopped some streets away, searched and the Leatherman was found in his possession. He was arrested and taken into custody and later charged with the spate of stabbings.
The trial continues.
