Melvyn Hall (71), FORMER MAGISTRATE, of Ashfield Mews, Wallsend, Tyne & Wear - eventually admitted hitting Molly (a rescue German Shepherd Dog he had adopted) over the head with a hammer, then strangling her with a washing line and then dumping her body in the River Tyne.  

HE GOT A SUSPENDED PRISON SENTENCE AND A FINE.......

The story:

A man who killed his dog by hammering her head, strangling her with a washing line and dumping her in a river has avoided being sent to jail. Former magistrate Melvyn Hall, 71, said the dog had been ‘getting on his nerves’ because she kept ‘following him around’, the RSPCA said. Molly, aged six, was found washed up in the River Tyne on December 6 with washing line still wrapped around her neck. Police found out she belonged to Hall because she had been microchipped

Asked about the dog’s death, he repeatedly changed his story, the spokesman said. RSPCA inspector Rowena Proctor said: ‘When the rescue called Hall he told them that Molly had died of a ruptured aneurysm and had been seen by a local vet, but he couldn’t remember the name, which he initially reiterated when I visited him the next day.

‘However, in the interview that followed he said he had gone to the shop and come home to find her dead, before going on to admit hitting Molly on the head with a hammer, strangling her with the washing line that was around her neck when her body was found, and dumping her in the River Tyne. ‘He said he did it because she was following him around and getting on his nerves and he lashed out. He showed me where he had done it, in his garden shed, and gave me the hammer he had used.’ Ms Proctor added: ‘The vet said that the attack on Molly from the person who cared for her would have caused immediate distress, which would have quickly passed into suffering when she received the blow from the hammer.

‘They went on to say that the presence of the washing line and injuries to her neck, which were consistent with having been strangled, indicate that the owner was uncertain of the state of consciousness of Molly after she had been hit with the hammer.’ Appearing at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, the former NHS worker from Ashfield Mews in Wallsend was handed an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for a year, after admitting two counts of causing unnecessary suffering under the Animal Welfare Act. It also said he was given a lifetime disqualification on owning all animals other than goldfish, and told to pay £1,000 in court costs.

THE PETITION:

MICHAEL GOVE RECENTLY GRANTED THE RSPCA POWERS TO ISSUE THE MAXIMUM PRISON SENTENCE OF FIVE YEARS FOR "SEVERE AND EXTREME CRUELTY TO ANIMALS" AT THE TIME OF MOLLY'S DEATH THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE FOR EXTREME CRUELTY TO ANIMALS IS 6 MONTHS CUSTODIAL SENTENCE.

Melvyn Hall (Former Magistrate) was yesterday given AN 18 WEEK SUSPENDED prison sentence and a £1,000 fine!!!!!  

Is hitting an innocent rescue dog over the head with a hammer, then strangling her with washing line and dumping her body in the river not "severe and extreme cruelty to animals". WHERE IS THE JUSTICE FOR MOLLY? WHERE IS THE DETERRANT FOR ANIMAL CRUELTY??

THIS SENTENCING IS A JOKE AND WE DEMAND IT TO BE REVIEWED URGENTLY AND THAT MELVYN HALL IS GIVEN THE MAXIMUM CUSTODIAL SENTENCE OF 6 MONTHS IN PRISON!