By Ashley Young-
A former security guard and Royal Navy seaman nicknamed The Brighton Cat Killer has been found guilty of an eight month campaign slaying pets in the resort.
Serial cat killer Steve Bouquet, 54, stabbed at least 16 pet cats, and is suspected to havekilled many more.
He killed nine cats and seven others he left for dead survived, in a killing spree that shocked Brighton residents, especially cat owners. Evil Bouquet seemed invincible, and hoped to escape his crimes indefinitely. Bouquet was charged with 16 offences of criminal damage between October 2018 and June 2019. Uk legislation places cats under the category of property.
Lewes Crown Court in Chichester heard Bouquet had pictures of the cats he attacked on his phone.
When they searched his flat, police found a knife stained with feline blood in his kitchen.
Authorities fear Bouquet could be responsible for other possible cat attacks in the city.
The former shopping centre security guard was tried in his absence after failing to appear at court.
Police apprehended him in Brighton on Monday night after a tip off from a member of the public who saw him drinking and behaving oddly in a city park.
Phone data placed him at or near the scene when cats were attacked.
His Honour Judge Jeremy Gold QC described the attacks as very unpleasant and said they had a significant impact on the owners who relied on their cats for companionship and comfort.
‘The very thought of having a knife plunged into their beloved pet is a serious matter,’ the judge said.
‘I take a very serious view of this case.
‘There will be consequences,’ the judge said.
Rowan Jenkins for the prosecution said: ‘Great care was taken by Mr Bouquet to be and remain the invisible man.
‘There were no clues left at all and nobody witnessed the attacks, which often happened after the hours of darkness,’ Mr Jenkins said
His location was kept secret from the jury who took three hours to find him guilty.
Mr, Bouquett denied the killings when questioned by Sussex Police Image: Sussex Police
Mr. Bouquett was eventually trapped by a camera fixed to the outside of the house where another victim lived picked up a man attacking a cat called Hendrix.
The CCTV showed Mr Bouquet stabbing Hendrix, Mr Jenkins said.
‘He had not yet been caught at this time and he was still invisible,’ Mr Jenkins said.
Bouquet was finally arrested on suspicion of attacking the cats, after police made a breakthrough in the case.
CCTV picked up Mr Bouquet interacting with a cat called Hendrix, Mr Jenkins told the court.
‘In the early evening of 31st May 2019 Stewart Montgomery and his partner Agatha Altwegg were at home in Brighton.
‘At around 7.50pm their nine month old black shorthair with white chest patch called Hendrix, came running in.
‘At first Miss Altweg thought nothing of it, but she then saw blood where he had been sitting and when looked closer found he was bleeding heavily.’
Hendrix could not be save and the vet who treated him said she had never seen a case like it, Mr Jenkins said.
‘In her opinion, this was, in fact, a single wound with a blade penetrating from the left side through to the right – driven straight through.’
Neighbours who had installed CCTV after their own cat was attacked found footage of a Mr Bouquet stroking Hendrix.
Mr Jenkins said: ‘He appears to show affection to the cat by stroking it.
‘Facing sideways, he seems to take something from his rucksack.
‘As the cat lies down in front of him, you will see there is then a sudden jerk from the defendant’s arm.
‘This, is the moment we say when the defendant stabs Hendrix with some force. Immediately, he reacts by getting to his feet and fleeing to his home.
‘The defendant is seen to rearrange his rucksack and continues to walk North,’ Mr Jenkins said.
Former Royal Navy able seaman Steve Bouquet killed nine cats and injuring seven more in Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019 in central Brighton.
Nine pets died following vicious attacks with a knife or knives, the court heard.
Sussex Police Detective Inspector Chris Thompson said: “In late 2018 we became aware of a number of reports where cat owners believed their cats had been deliberately killed or injured. We needed to determine whether there was human involvement in these cases and submitted two cats for post-mortem examinations by a specialist vet at the Royal Veterinary College. It was found that one of the cats had been stabbed by a sharp implement deliberately, but the other had too much surgical intervention to make a definite conclusion.
“The attacks had occurred in a fairly confined area of the city with two distinct clusters to the east and west of Preston Road, just south of Preston Park and a line from the area of Brighton railway station to close to the seafront. However, there were no witnesses to the savage acts and there was no indication as to who was responsible.”
He said the breakthrough came in May 2019, when nine-month old Hendrix was stabbed by a knife in Crown Gardens, a narrow passageway linking Church Street and North Road in Brighton.
“Hendrix’s owners were at home in the early evening of May 31, when he came in, bleeding heavily from a single knife wound. The owners discovered a trail of blood leading from the passageway to their home and then noticed a CCTV camera nearby. This had been set up by a neighbour whose own cat had suffered a similar fate, having been stabbed and killed a year before,” said Det Insp Thompson.
“We examined the footage and discovered that it had captured Bouquet stooping to stroke the cat before taking something from his rucksack and making a sudden jerk towards it. Hendrix fled, but later died from his injuries.
“This was to prove a turning point in our investigation as, for the first time, we had evidence of who was responsible. Two days later, on June 2, 2019, we arrested the suspect and in a search of his house found a knife with cat DNA on the blade and his DNA on the handle. We also found a number of images of live cats in various locations around the city and also one that showed a dead cat, Kyo, that had been killed in May 2019.
“In interview, Bouquet told us how cats had always been friendly to him and he would often stroke them while he was walking. He was bailed while our investigations continued and we established that he was never out of the city at the relevant times of the offences – this was the time from when the cat was last seen uninjured to the time when it was found injured or dead. He was never at work for the whole period during the relevant times, there was a preponderance of offences between his home and work place when he was working, but when he was not at work the offences occurred mainly near his home address.
“Additionally, we found that when he had a period of leave, the attacks increased from one or two a month to several over the course of a week.”
Det Insp Thompson added: “We were aware that, with the exception of the CCTV from Crown Gardens, we were relying on circumstantial evidence, but as the investigation progressed we were able to establish location data from his mobile phone, we disproved his claim that he found the knife on his way to work on the morning of his initial arrest and a witness had come forward with a positive identification of him after seeing a man acting suspiciously shortly before a cat was found dead in the Shaftsbury Road area.
“Due to the unique nature of this investigation, a number of experts were identified to assist in assessing the evidence and information available including proving that the injuries were stab wounds and interpretation and examination of his mobile telephone. His laptop computer showed that he had repeatedly accessed a website in relation to lost cats in the city, paying particular attention to a cat that was killed. He had also viewed numerous dog killing cat-related videos and two photographs of a dead cat in a front garden, taken at different times of the day, were recovered from his devices and believed to have been taken by him.
“No further incidents of this nature had been reported since his arrest. This was enough to provide us with a case to submit to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), who authorised the 17 charges on December 22, 2019.”
Chief Superintendent Nick May, divisional commander for Brighton and Hove, said: “This has had a devastating impact on those who have had their beloved pets killed or seriously injured and Bouquet’s actions understandably caused a lot of concern and worry to other pet owners in the city. There have been considerable financial implications as well, with some spending up to £7,500 to try to save their animals.
“This was a necessarily complex and exhaustive investigation. I would like to express my thanks to the investigation team who worked tirelessly to bring about this successful result, to the CPS and the many experts who we have called upon to support the prosecution.
“There is no indication to suggest that Bouquet is involved in any other incidents relating to the killing or injuring of cats elsewhere in the country – indeed, evidence suggests that he rarely leaves Brighton. There are no indications that there is any other person in Brighton and Hove causing harm to cats and we are not looking for anyone else involved in this type of criminality.
“However, we understand the considerable public interest in this case and we are sharing our learning with the National Crime Agency and with other forces who have experienced similar incidents.”