She told a judge she knew the dog would die when she abandoned it but ‘it wasn't on purpose'
Stephanie Murphy running from Liverpool Magistrates Court
This is the moment when a woman who left her dog to die alone in a squalid house made a swift exit from court after her prison sentence was suspended. Stephanie Murphy, aged 35, confessed to leaving her pet Boxer to starve after she deserted him in her property in West Derby, Liverpool.
The mother of two faced Liverpool Magistrates' Court on March 10, where she entered a guilty plea to a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The dog, reportedly a beloved family pet, was discovered lifeless on September 20, 2023. Officers visited Murphy's home in response to a call from her children's school expressing worry about the girls missing two consecutive days of classes.
Prosecutor Tara Thomas said: “Police attended and found the deceased dog in the hallway. No persons were located inside. The deceased dog was located; he was extremely thin and was not breathing.”
Thomas detailed that an autopsy concluded the animal had succumbed to starvation. A responding officer commented on the property's poor condition, noting the absence of food for the pet, with its feeding bowl found empty, reports the Liverpool Echo.
In a police interview, Murphy stated that she did not intend to cause harm to the dog. When asked if she knew the dog would die when she abandoned it, she said: “Yes, but it wasn't intentional. It wasn't on purpose”.
Georgia Maudsley, defending, said: “At the time of the offence she said she suffered a mental breakdown. She suffered from bereavements in her family, her relationship broke down. She felt fearful to be in her own home and fled to her mother's address, and her mother did not want the dog in her home.
“Her poor mental health at the time has clearly impacted her thinking skills. She states she was simply existing at the time and not thinking due to her poor mental health. The home was very unkempt and unclean and it shows how her mental state was at the time.”
Judge Paul Healey said: “It must have taken days, weeks, for the dog to become emaciated and eventually die. The dog died as a result of the neglect caused by you. It went on for a period of weeks where you could have taken action to alleviate the suffering of the dog, but you chose not to.
“Sadly you have lost family members, your relationship had come to an end, and the events of your personal life led to you losing the ability to live life as you normally would do and provide for the dog's needs.
“I accept at the time you were suffering from your mental health, but I struggle to understand why that prevented you from simply picking up a phone to get some help. You had every opportunity to speak to the RSPCA or somebody to say you were struggling to look after the dog, but you didn't do so.”
He sentenced Murphy to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered her to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work. He also banned her from owning animals for six years. Murphy, who wept throughout the hearing, sprinted out of the court building with the hood of her coat up.
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