DAILY RECORD (Glasgow, UK) 20 January 11 Snake killer accused walks free because of charge botch-up
A man accused of killing a snake through neglect yesterday walked free because prosecutors took him to trial under the wrong law.
Kevin Kibble denied killing the boa constricter.
But at Cupar Sheriff Court, sheriff Charlie Macnair upheld a no case to answer submission by Kibble’s lawyer, Douglas Williams.
He said the law Kibble, 30, was being prosecuted under did not apply and that the Crown’s case showed Kibble unintentionally – rather than deliberately – omitted to provide adequate care.
Under a similar provision in the Animal Health and Welfare (Scotland) Act, he could have faced conviction.
But the sheriff denied a prosecution request to change the charges.
The dead snake was discovered in May last year when police received a 999 call that Kibble was “drunk and angry” in his garden in Springfield, Fife.
PC Valerie Williams, 35, said she and a colleague attended and helped Kibble into his house.
She said Kibble told her he had let the snake die and she added: “I couldn’t tell if it was a snake. There was a lot of mould and decomposition.”
The court also heard evidence from a vet who said no evidence was found of any food in the stomach of the rotted boa constricter, which in the wild kills its prey by crushing it.
But after hearing evidence from three witnesses, the defence solicitor asked for the case to be thrown out. The sheriff agreed to the request and said: “The question is whether there’s enough evidence to show there had been a deliberate act.
“That is the test under the section of the Act the Crown have proceeded under.
“Had the other section of the Act been employed, the Crown may have been able to establish that offence.
“There isn’t enough evidence to convict under the offence with which the accused is charged and accordingly he is acquitted.”
Kibble denied that between December 10, 2009 and May 25, 2010, he caused the snake unnecessary suffering.
It is alleged he knew or ought to have known that failing to provide adequate care would cause the suffering or be likely to do so, resulting in the death of the snake.
Snake killer accused walks free because of charge botch-up