Thaindian News

London, July 7 (IANS) A Briton stabbed his NRI neighbour’s dog to death with a knife after it attacked his labrador, a court heard Wednesday.

Mark Deeley, 50, claimed he was protecting his 12-year-old Bertie, from Max, a five-year-old German Shepherd owned by India-origin Tarlo Singh and his sister Susan Kaur, Daily Express reported.

Coventry Magistrates’ Court heard Max had squeezed under a hedge to get into the garden of Deeley’s home in the upmarket suburb of Gibbet Hill.

Finuala Sheridan, prosecuting, said the German Shepherd then apparently attacked the labrador.

Deeley, who was in the garden, went to his kitchen where “he picked the largest knife he could find”, she said.

Deeley, who denied criminal intention, told the court that the dog fight was “brutal”. He said: “I saw Max’s jaws around Bertie’s throat.”

He said terrified that his dog was going to be killed, “I drew the knife back and struck once. I felt I did not have any choice.”

Max died from a single stab wound.

However, Tarlo Singh, told the court he had heard Deeley calling Max to his side of the hedge. He said: “Max was barking, I looked out the window. What alerted me more was when Mark Deeley called him over. It was loud.” The trial continues.