Would-be Lib Dem MP jailed for battering family cat to death with walking stick after it scratched his grandchild
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 1:55 AM on 12th March 2011
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Former candidate, who speaks out on crime and policing, imprisoned for 16 weeks
Mike Dixon, arriving at magistrates court yesterday, was jailed for 16 weeks for battering to death his family's pet cat Tipsy
A PROSPECTIVE Liberal Democrat MP was jailed yesterday for bludgeoning his family cat to death with a walking stick.
Mike Dixon, 53, who has spoken out on crime and policing in the past, yelled: ‘I’m going to kill this cat’ while brandishing the stick and chasing it upstairs into a bedroom.
He then repeatedly struck black-and-white Tipsy in a ‘prolonged and awful attack’ while his family begged him to stop.
The animal, which had lived with the family for five years, died in agony after suffering for more than half an hour with ten broken bones and a skull fracture.
Kidderminster magistrates heard the prospective parliamentary candidate – who came third in Birmingham Northfield at the general election – ‘lost his temper’ after the cat apparently scratched one of his grandchildren last May.
Some time later, in what RSPCA officers described as a ‘calculated’ attack, he chased it into a bedroom and locked the door behind him before beating it with the stick.
Dixon, of Kidderminster, contacted the police to tell them what he had done and they passed the case on to the RSPCA, which brought the prosecution.
On Thursday, the married father-of-two admitted causing unnecessary suffering contrary to the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and was jailed for 16 weeks.
Tipsy, a black and white cat similar to the one pictured left, had been the family pet for five years. The incident happened just days after Dixon, right, had stood for, but failed to secure, a seat for the Lib Dems
The court heard the attack was so violent relatives thought Dixon was 'smashing' the house up
He has also been banned from keeping animals for life and dismissed from his role as a local Liberal Democrat agent. Brian McCluskie, chairman of the bench, told Dixon: ‘This was a prolonged and awful attack on an animal, which was a result of your inability to keep your temper.
‘That resulted in the family pet being bludgeoned to death.
‘The family pet did not die quickly. You ignored the pleas of your family and you caused horrific suffering.’
A statement from Dixon’s daughter-in-law Sally was also read to the court.
She said: ‘Mike, my father-in-law, came towards me and the cat ran out. I heard Mike say: “I’m going to kill this cat”. I didn’t think he was actually going to kill the cat.
‘I noticed Mike holding the walking stick in his hand. My mother-in-law looked a bit panicked. She screamed: “No, Mike, no”.
‘Mike came into the room looking calm – almost spaced out. He said: “I’ve killed the cat”.’
RSPCA inspector Steve Morrall said Dixon had shown no remorse but Fergus Maxwell, defending, said his client bitterly regretted what he had done. Mr Morrall added: ‘I am pleased that the court has appreciated the severity of suffering the cat endured and sentenced accordingly.
‘I hope the sentence will send the message that this type of brutal violence towards animals is totally unacceptable.’
A Liberal Democrat insider said: ‘His career is toast. He could stand again but no-one wants[at] to be represented by a man[at] who beat his cat to death with[at] a stick.’