PENSIONER BRANDS RSPCA AS LIARS AS SHE DENIES CONTENTS OF STATEMENT
A pensioner appeared in court after 22 cats were removed from her home by police following an investigation by the RSPCA.
Sylvia Bailey, 67, of Stevenage, pleaded not guilty at the town magistrates' court to eight offences of failing to meet the welfare needs of the cats under the Animal Welfare Act.
On one occasion Ms Bailey was told to keep quiet by chairman of the magistrates Dr David Izod after she whispered "liar" as an RSPCA inspector gave evidence on the treatment of the cats. Ms Bailey later broke down in tears and the case was adjourned for 10 minutes while she recovered.
RSPCA inspector Melanie Fisher told the court how Ms Bailey's home was in a bad state on December 15 last year,
Accompanied by an animal warden, Insp Fisher said the RSPCA had gone to the property after a report from a member of the public about the cats.
Ms Bailey was then served with a notice to have the cats examined and treated by a vet.
But when Insp Fisher returned to the property on Christmas Eve nothing had been done and the flat remained dirty.
At another meeting at her home, the court heard, there was a clash between Ms Bailey and the RSPCA inspector who tried to interview her."She became extremely hostile," added Insp Fisher. "She just kept calling me a bitch. She was hostile and aggressive and she would not agree to the interview and made derogatory remarks so I left."Under cross examination by Sean Smith, QC, the inspector refused to disclose who had notified the RSPCA about the cats.
Mr Smith told the court: "She (Ms Bailey) says there are large portions of your report of the interview with her which she says are not what she said at all."Insp Fisher replied: "I beg to differ."
http://www.thecomet.net/content/comet/news/story.aspx?brand=CMTOnline&category=News&tBrand=HertsCambsOnline&tCategory=newslatestCMT&itemid=WEED24%20Nov%202008%2016%3A55%3A37%3A203
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment