Brighton cat serial killer is jailed for more than five years

Steve Bouquet, 54, from Brighton, was sentenced to five years and three months, at Hove Crown Court, for stabbing cats and other pets and left them dying on door steps. The cat killer was found guilty of attacking 16 cats in the East Sussex city killing nine. A Jury at Chichester Crown Court found the shopping centre worker guilty of 16 offences of criminal damage and possession of a knife earlier this month. During his trial the court heard details of how Bouquet moved through the city unseen and unheard and stabbed people’s beloved pets between October 2018 and June 2019.

Nine Cats – Hendrix, Tommy, Hannah, Alan, Nancy, Gizmo, Kyo, Ollie and Cosmo were killed while another seven were injured. Judge Jeremy Gold QC said “I suggest it is only really during lockdown it has been particularly clear how much of us who have pets rely on them for companionship and comfort and one can only imagine the distress that was caused to the owners of those various cats in this case at the very thought of having a knife plunged into their beloved pets. His behaviour was cruel, it was sustained and it struck at the very heart of family life.”