Ad Blocker Detected
Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker.
Breadcrumb Trail Links
A judge is asked to consider whether house arrest should be considered in a man who has fatally beaten two cats.
Article author:
Release date:
February 24, 2021 • • 2 hours ago • • 3 minutes read 
Regina Provincial Court on a winter day. Photo by Brandon Harder /.jpg
Article content
Warning: This article contains details that readers may find bothersome.
What weight should house arrest be given in the COVID-19 era when convicting an offender?
A judge at Regina Provincial Court is asked to answer this question in the case of a man who fatally beat two cats in the past year.
If the Crown succeeds in its arguments, the 28-year-old Matthew J. Drummond was under house arrest as shouldn’t matter much shortly after the March 3 incidents.
“Under these circumstances, restrictions and restrictions were placed on all of us in society over the past year,” argued prosecutor Andrew Campbell to Judge Anna Crugnale-Reid on Tuesday. “Even now we are told to stay home if possible.”
However, defense attorney Corinne Maeder argued that this situation was different. Not only was Drummond ordered to stay home – apart from a few hours a week to go to medical appointments or have dinner with his parents – she said he and his family had been due to public abuse suffered considerable difficulties because of his crimes.
advertising
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“He’s become a pariah in society,” she said. “It has become incredibly difficult for him and his family.”
Maeder, himself a person who has rescued animals, said there was no question what Drummond did was “terrible”. But she added it was because her client – who has significant mental health problems and works to overcome addictions – was in a drug stupor.
“Matthew is a different person and he is extremely repentant for his actions,” she said.
Court heard the incident came to light after someone in a residential area on Athol Street reported they heard what he thought was a woman screaming in a car.
The police answered and spoke to Drummond behind the wheel of that car. When the police checked the inside, they found a cat that was badly injured and had difficulty breathing. The cat did not move and the police called the Regina Humane Society to retrieve the animal.
The cat’s injuries were so severe that the animal had to be euthanized.
Police noticed that the inside of the car smelled like cat urine and was bloody. A bat was also found, and police learned that Drummond used it to bludgeon the cat after he brought the animal into the vehicle to prevent it from escaping.
“The applicant’s screaming, believed to be a woman, was actually the sound of the cat as it was being hit,” Campbell told the court.
Shortly afterwards, police found a second cat nearby that had been similarly beaten – this one to death.
advertising
This ad hasn’t loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Campbell said the cats’ owners had not been identified.
He noted that sentences for animal cruelty have increased in Canada and called for a six-month sentence, which is equivalent to similar sentences.
But Maeder asked the judge to consider imposing a conditional sentence, which was being served in the parish. In doing so, she pointed out the difficulties Drummond faced on his terms.
She said he wasn’t violent as a kid and even had pets that he loved. But since then he has been diagnosed with innumerable and serious mental illnesses and used drugs, which led to his insult.
Crugnale-Reid has reserved their decision until April 22nd.
hpolischuk@postmedia.com
twitter.com/LPHeatherP
The news seems to be attacking us faster and faster. From COVID-19 updates to politics and crime, and everything in between, it can be difficult to keep up. This is why the Regina Leader Post created an afternoon headline newsletter that can be delivered to your inbox daily to ensure you are kept up to date on the day’s most important news. Click here to login.
Share this article on your social network
Regina Leader Post Headlines
By clicking the “Subscribe” button, you agree to receive the above-mentioned newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for registering!
Remarks
Postmedia strives to maintain a lively but civil discussion forum and to encourage all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments can take up to an hour to be moderated before they appear on the website. We ask that you keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications. You will now receive an email when you get a reply to your comment, when a comment thread you follow is updated, or when a user follows comments. For more information and details on customizing your email settings, see our Community Guidelines.
