West Bromwich couple face jail for hurling dog from balcony

Jul 23 2008 By Dale Williams

A HUSBAND and wife were today facing jail after admitting beating a dog to death before it was hurled from a fifth-floor balcony as its elderly owner lay dying in hospital.

Sheena Spence, 62, and her husband Alexander Spence, 60, were looking after black Scottish terrier Laddie while his owner Nancy Howells, 86, was in hospital with kidney failure last October.

The dog died on October 2 last year after receiving “a number of blows” at the couple’s home, West Bromwich Magistrates’ Court heard.

The couple, from Charlemont Farm, West Bromwich, pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal and one charge of failing to attend to the needs of the dog at previous hearings and were due to be sentenced today.

The court heard that Mrs Spence, a cleaner who had worked for Mrs Howells for 12 years, had volunteered to look after the dog at her home in Wyndmill Crescent.

During an alcohol-fuelled argument with her husband, Mrs Spence hit the dog after it bit her ankle. Her husband also “lashed out” at the animal, the court heard.

The couple told RSPCA officers that the dog also struck a door before Mrs Spence picked it up and threw it over the balcony.

The following day, when Mrs Howells’ grandson arrived to collect the dog, Mrs Spence handed him its collar and lead, telling him the dog had run away. The terrier’s body was found by a resident.

Mrs Howells, who died in hospital on October 29, 2007, was said to be devoted to the dog.