Basstelaw burglar flouted ban on owning pets after causing ‘untold suffering’ to dog

Jason Cook broke into a Subway, in Worksop, took £20 of milkshakes and crisps, and damaged a keyboard by the till, on July 11, last year.

Prosecutor Lucy Woodcock said that when he was arrested, officers found him in possession of a dog despite being subject to a five-year disqualification under the Animal Welfare Act.

RSPCA prosecutor Janita Patel said the ban was imposed after Cook neglected a dog called Zippy by failing to get medical help for a chronic ear infection.

Zippy had to be put down. When Cook, who owned him for seven years, was asked if he has anything to say, he said, "No, not really.”

She said Zippy endured ‘untold suffering and harm which could have easily been avoided if he had been taken to see a vet’, and Cook received an 18-week sentence, suspended for 12 months.

Cook admitted burglary and breaching the five-year disqualification, when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court in August, last year.

On Thursday, Mansfield Magistrates Court heard he has five previous convictions for seven offences.

Pari Seeley, mitigating, said she had nothing to add after magistrates read a probation report.

Cook, aged 30, of Hirst Road, Retford, was made subject to a three-year criminal behaviour order, which limits where he can go in Worksop.

He also received a 12-month community order, with ten rehabilitation days and a six-month alcohol treatment programme.

He was ordered to pay £100 compensation along with £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.