Animal rights protestors celebrate as man who kicked and choked 'screaming' puppy before slamming it into a wall and throwing its bloodied body in a bin is jailed
- Christopher Keogh beat his Jack Russell dog to death
- He was jailed for 150 days and banned from keeping pets for life
- Animal rights protestors demonstrated outside court as he was sentenced
- He attacked the dog after it bit his three-month-old son
- Neighbours called police after hearing screams which they reported was an animal or child in distress
Banned for life: Christopher Keogh has been jailed and can never keep a pet again after he brutally killed his Jack Russell
Christopher Keogh, 31, kicked, punched and slammed one-year-old Bambi against a brick wall before dumping the bloodied body in a bin.
Animal rights protesters Colchester Animal Defenders demonstrated outside Colchester Magistrates’ Court protested yesterday, jeering Keogh as he entered.
During the attack, neighbours called the police after hearing screams, which they reported was an animal or a child in distress.
The father-of-two lost his temper with Bambi after it bit his three-month-old son on the hand, the court heard.
In the rage that followed, he choked the dog by carrying it outside by its collar and throwing the dog above his head across the courtyard outside his home in Colchester.
Keogh was jailed for 150 days and banned from keeping animals for life.
The attack on September 26 this year lasted several minutes and was caught on CCTV which police have deemed too upsetting to release.
Officers found Bambi’s body wrapped in a towel in a bin outside his flat complex. It was taken to a vet, who confirmed it was dead. Keogh was arrested shortly after.
District Judge Andrew Woollard said: ‘I can’t envisage a crime more serious than what you committed.
Court protest: Animal rights protesters jeered Keogh as he entered Colchester Magistrates' Court and held placards such as 'RIP BAMBI' and 'Justice for Bambi'
‘I suspect everyone else who hears the facts would find them disgusting. Custody it has to be.’
Judge Woollard refused his solicitor’s requests for Keogh to undergo a psychological report before sentence was passed.
Emma Bailey, mitigating, said: ‘He is genuinely remorseful and upset. The dog had bitten his very young baby.
‘He never wanted this to happen. The dog had been well loved up until this point.’
The court heard how Keogh had recently overcome a drug habit and was now taking replacement medicines twice a week to stave off addiction.
Longer sentences: About 15 protesters from Colchester Animal Defenders protested outside court and banged on the court house windows as Keogh entered. They believe there should longer sentences for people convicted of animal cruelty
Members of the Colchester Animal Defenders protested outside court because they want longer sentences for people convicted of animal cruelty offences.
About 15 protesters jeered Keogh as he entered the court, held placards that read ‘Justice for Bambi’ and banged on the court house windows as he entered.
‘Barbaric animal killings such as this should be punished in the toughest possible way.
‘You shouldn’t get less for fraud and crimes that are less violent.’
Ms Moore is calling for residents to lobby their MPs to demand tougher sentences for people who abuse animals.
She said: ‘There is no excuse for animal abuse.
'Disgusting': District Judge Andrew Woollard told Keogh at Colchester Magistrates' Court (pictured) that he couldn't 'envisage a crime more serious that what you committed'
The campaign has been supported by Big Brother contestant and model, Victoria Eisermann, who was due to attend the protest but was unable to make it on the day.
Keogh was prosecuted by Essex Police, but an RSPCA spokesman said he was glad the courts saw it as serious enough to hand Keogh a jail sentence and lifetime ban on keeping pets.
The spokesman said: ‘This was a particularly nasty case.
‘Hopefully the fact he has received a lifetime ban on keeping animals will be more effective than his short spell in prison.
‘It is about the care and welfare of animals and if he doesn’t have access to them then there can be no more suffering at his hands.’
