A HYTHE man who was trusted to look after a friend’s dog while she was on holiday was caught trying to have sex with it on a hidden camera.
Graham Robinson (52), of Shore Road, was asked to look after the great-Dane-German-shepherd-cross last May.
Southampton Crown Court heard the owner had installed a camera in her living room as she had concerns Robinson “wouldn’t respect the house”.
She also wanted to be able to check on her six-year-old pet while she was on her week-long break.
Prosecutor Tom Wilkins told the court Robinson had been entrusted to house sit, and while things initially seemed well, the owner was left in “great distress” after checking the hidden camera on the second day of her break.
The court heard it was the owner’s 12-year-old daughter who initially saw the camera’s live stream before asking her mother: “What is he doing?”
Mr Wilkins said the owner took the phone, which was used to view the camera, and saw Robinson performing a sex act on the dog, before he tried to go further.
A statement read to the court said the youngster had been left “traumatised” by what she had seen, and was undergoing counselling.
The owner had been left “anxious, angry, sad and feeling guilty” that she had let Robinson care for the dog.
She was also having counselling and had been diagnosed with PTSD.
The dog was “jumpy” as a result of the incident, and now barks at men he does not know, Mr Wilkins added.
The court heard the family were looking to move house and feared bumping into Robinson.
Robinson, who was unrepresented in court as he could not afford legal advice, said he had been “an idiot”.
He had drunk 10 glasses of spirits, two beers, and smoked cannabis on the night and “did not realise what he was doing”.
He found it “difficult to grasp the matter” and could not understand why he had behaved in such a way.
Robinson, who is a carer for his mother, was assessed as being at a low to medium risk of reoffending, a probation report ruled.
Addressing judge Nicholas Rowland, Robinson said: “I’m very sorry I did what I did.
“I can’t believe it myself, it’s shocking. I’m devastated, to be honest.”
Judge Rowland said: “It is an abomination, to behave in this way.
“And it’s a gross breach of trust, isn’t it? It’s incomprehensible [and] a very serious offence.”
Robinson pleaded guilty to one charge of attempting sexual penetration with a living animal.
Imposing a community order, which includes abstaining from alcohol for 60 days and carrying out 200 hours of unpaid work, he added his decision not to send him to prison was “a close-run thing”.
