Wakefield man broke into ex-partner’s shed and killed her ferret

Mark Smithurst also rifled through her shopping and tried to sleep in her house before he was eventually kicked out.

She had just returned home from the supermarket when she noticed something was moving in her shed. That is where she kept her pet ferret, Stevie, with the door bolted shut.

However, when she went outside to check – her 57-year-old former partner emerged and told her he had killed Stevie. He was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (June 6).

Prosecuting, Daisy Wrigley said: “The defendant then proceeded to rifle through his ex-partner’s shopping bags.

“She gave him some chocolate biscuits and asked why he killed her ferret, but he looked glazed over and she believed he was under the influence of drugs. She shouted at him to leave the property.”

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Smithurst tried to lie down in her house. Later, the court heard that he pulled down his pants and rubbed lip balm on his groin. His ex-partner managed to get him to leave after several attempts.

Defending, Henry Fernandez said: “The defendant suffers from withdrawal symptoms and heroin dependency. His wife passed away 15 years ago, which is when he started taking heroin.”

Smithurst, of Brooklands Crescent, Wakefield, was also sentenced for two other incidents.

The first was on January 22, when he was asked to leave The College pub on Northgate by the landlord. He proceeded to bang the window until it smashed.

The second incident was on January 30, when he exposed himself in the car of a housing support officer who had taken him to collect a prescription.

Recorder Simon Jackson KC said: “It was a dreadful act to kill someone’s pet.”

He sentenced him to 16 months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years. He was also ordered to pay £150 in costs.

Smithurst responded: “I am truly disgusted in everything I’ve done.”