Lower Hutt man trapped and killed neighbours’ cats to protect garden

A Lower Hutt man who trapped and killed his neighbours’ cats and kept one of the corpses in a cage in his wardrobe has been sentenced for the “disgusting” act.

One of the owners described the killings as “sadistic”, but Judge Tania Warburton today said Neil James Robertson had not intended to be cruel to the cats and simply wanted to protect his garden.

Owner Reuben Leslie Eglinton said he was “extremely broken” after the death of his cat, Jade Leslie Eglinton, who he said he loved as if the cat were his child.

Neil James Robertson was sentenced in the Hutt Valley District Court this afternoon. Photo / Melissa Nightingale

Eglinton told the Herald his cat had been missing for a day or two in March, and he had “a feeling something’s gone wrong”.

He went onto 60-year-old Robertson’s property and was horrified to find the body of another neighbour’s cat in an oil drum used as an incinerator in Robertson’s yard.

Eglinton called police, who searched the property, and was devastated to receive the body of his own cat.

It is not clear how either cat died, but Eglinton said there had been water leaking out of the other cat’s mouth, which might indicate the pet had been drowned.

In his victim impact statement, which he read out in the Hutt Valley District Court this afternoon while wearing a shirt with a photo of his cat and the phrase, “justice for Jade”, he described how he had formerly had a “somewhat friendly” relationship with Robertson.

“I’m feeling extremely broken over this,” he said. “This incident is almost too hard to put into words how it has affected me emotionally.”

Jade Leslie Eglinton (pictured) was about 7 months old when he was killed.

Eglinton said he loved his cats “with all my heart as if they were my children” and that Jade had helped him through depression.

“To find out that Neil, a neighbour of mine, cruelly murdered my special boy was so painful to hear. I feel completely sick to my stomach that my neighbour could do such a disgusting thing.

“I know that he has a lot going on for him but to do an act like this is so sadistic and he should not get away with it lightly,” he said.

“I know that the courts and the justice system might view the murder of an animal as largely less important than the murder of a human, but I can tell you it hurts just the same for me.”

Eglinton keeps his remaining cats indoors permanently now, afraid Robertson might harm them.

Defence lawyer Phyllis Strachan said Robertson suffered from an alcohol addiction and had little support in his life, aside from his son.

“There was never any malicious intent in the sense that my client viewed the animals that were doing damage to his garden as pests,” she said.

Reuben Eglinton found his neighbour's cat (pictured) in an oil drum on Neil Robertson's property.

Judge Warburton laid out the facts of the case, saying Robertson had lured the cats onto his property, trapped and killed them.

Eglinton’s cat was kept in a cage in Robertson’s wardrobe. It is not clear if Jade died before or after being placed there.

“I accept you did not want to be cruel to the cats,” Judge Warburton said.

She noted Robertson was trying to protect his garden, one of the few things he took pleasure in.

“You did not act out of cruelty towards the animals nor malice to your neighbours,” she said.

She described Robertson as “very remorseful” and “quite reclusive”, and said he had suffered some “reprisals” directed at himself and his home since the incident.

Robertson has pleaded guilty to two counts of ill-treatment of animals, and one count of possession of ammunition.

Reuben Eglinton said Jade was a support for him through depression.

The latter charge related to 42 rounds of .22 calibre ammunition, which was from a basket of items left to Robertson by his father about 30 years ago. There was no firearm on the property.

She convicted and discharged him on the ammunition charge.

On the animal cruelty charges, she sentenced him to five months of community detention, and ordered he pay $1200 reparation – $600 to each neighbour.

Eglinton said he didn’t feel the sentence was “good enough”, but “of course, I understand why, because he’s got a mental health issue and alcoholism”.

The owner of the other cat was unable to attend court today.

Melissa Nightingale is a Wellington-based reporter who covers crime, justice and news in the capital. She joined the Herald in 2016 and has worked as a journalist for 10 years.