Daniel O’Sullivan, of Bowland Drive, Liverpool, was sentenced to 21 months this week by Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court. He had stabbed a police dog, Audi, with a four-inch knife while high on drugs in Stoke-on-Trent on 1 July, in what the judge described as a ‘gratuitous’ and ‘plainly premeditated’ attack.
The Animal Welfare (Service Animals) Act 2019, which came into force in June, has been dubbed Finn’s Law after the police dog, also stabbed, whose injury inspired it―under the law at the time, the perpetrator could only be charged with criminal damage. The Act covers all service animals on duty under the control of an officer.
Laura Nash, criminal barrister at St John’s Buildings, said the sentence reflected other offences admitted as well as the stabbing―five counts of assaulting police officers and two of possessing offensive weapons.
‘However, the creation of the new offence, together with the intended increase to five years for animal welfare cases, indicates a shift in the seriousness of these types of offences,’ she said.
‘This new offence, together with the introduction of the Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Act which was introduced towards the end of 2018, demonstrates the commitment to protecting those who work on the front line of our emergency services. The guidelines make it clear that where there is deliberate or serious harm to the animal, a custodial sentence is likely to follow.
‘The most striking aspect of this case is just how soon it happened after the Act came into force.’
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