CARLISLE MAN GETS FIVE-YEAR BAN AFTER KICKING FRENCH BULLDOG
A CARLISLE man who kicked a French bulldog with 'extreme force' has been banned from keeping animals for five years.Alan Crilley, 45, was sentenced at Carlisle Magistrates’ Court on Friday, April 10, after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Prosecutor George Shelley told the court the offence happened on April 12, 2025, in Parham Grove in the city.
The French bulldog, which did not belong to Crilley, was on a lead with the defendant when he sat down with the dog and began shouting at it.
Crilley, of Hawthorn Grove, then walked off with the pet and started to kick and drag it along the pavement.
Mr Shelley said: "The dog is kicked with such extreme force that it is launched into the air and lands on its back." CCTV from a Ring doorbell camera, obtained by police, was played in court.
Crilley could be seen kicking the dog, shouting, running after it and dragging it along, but the court heard the animal was not injured.
Officers arrested him the following day.
Crilley, who has no animals in his care, initially denied the charge, but changed his plea to guilty on the day he was due to stand trial.
Mitigating, defence solicitor Adele Graham said the incident did not show any pattern of offending and that Crilley had no further convictions since it happened.
She described him as 'completely remorseful' and 'embarrassed' to be before the court, adding that he 'finds it hard himself to look at that CCTV'.
Miss Graham said alcohol use and mental health problems contributed to the incident, but that Crilley had since 'started to demonstrate some stability and lifestyle changes' and was a 'changed person'.
Magistrates imposed a 10-week jail term, suspended for one year.
Crilley, who has 50 previous convictions for 92 offences, must complete a 10-week, electronically monitored curfew between 7pm and 7am, and pay £454 in court costs.
He was also disqualified from owning or keeping animals for five years.
