Dog-sitter, Owen Dempsey, 36, flew into a rage after a couple returned home early from their holiday when they found out their French bulldog, Tank died while in his care
A dog sitter was jailed for headbutting a heartbroken owner after handing over his deceased French bulldog in a plastic bag. Owen Dempsey had been paid to care for a couple’s beloved pet whilst they enjoyed their holidays.
But the pair cut short their trip after receiving devastating news via FaceTime that their cherished dog had passed away. The man entrusted with looking after three year old Tank then became aggressive when the owners returned to retrieve the body, headbutting his victim before launching into a flurry of punches whilst demanding: “Are you f****** accusing me of killing your dog?”.
Liverpool Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday, Wednesday, that Martin Hulse had started using Dempsey as a pet sitter in June 2024 after discovering an advert for his services on Facebook, reports the Manchester Evening News.
Initially, this arrangement appeared to go “without any issue”, with “no reason to suggest that he was mistreating the dogs”.
Angela Conlan, prosecuting, explained how this led to Mr Hulse and his wife Julie arranging for their five dogs to stay with Dempsey, of Park Avenue in Fazakerley, for a 10-day period starting on August 28 that year, whilst they travelled abroad on holiday.
However, on September 8, they received a FaceTime call from the 36 year old and his partner Rachel informing them Tank had died. Although the French bulldog had undergone a “routine operation” six weeks prior, he was reported to have “seemed fine” before being left with Dempsey, and the owners had “no reason to be concerned about him being looked after by Owen”.
They then moved their return flight, originally set for 10 September, to that evening, requesting their pet be kept in a freezer until they could retrieve him.
Arriving at the property around 7.30am on 9 September, having flown back to the UK late the previous night, Mrs Dempsey reportedly handed Tank over to Mrs Hulse in a plastic bag. Despite her insistence that he had been put in the freezer, his body was described as “not cold” and “starting to smell really badly”.
Dempsey then descended the stairs and “appeared angry”, asking “are you f****** accusing me of killing your dog?”. He is then said to have headbutted Mr Hulse on the side of the face before “throwing a couple of punches”, hitting his head and arms.
As a result of these blows, the complainant fell backwards into the living room, where Dempsey “continued to assault him” until Mr Hulse managed to push him away. His attacker then allegedly told him “I’m not gonna hit you again because you’re an older bloke” before “running upstairs”, at which point the couple departed and alerted the police.
Dempsey was convicted of assault in his absence following a trial. He also confessed to violating a community order, issued in September last year for operating as an unlicensed dog boarder.
Despite successfully completing a 12-week curfew as part of this sentence, he missed appointments with the Probation Service on eight occasions without a valid excuse. A probation officer informed the court that he appeared “not seeming remorseful of his actions or appearing willing to change his ways”.
Dempsey has prior convictions for assault and an affray offence in Poland, as well as serving 27 months in prison for causing serious injury by dangerous driving in 2020. David Kilty, defending, stated on his behalf: “He did not attend the trial. He has lost his opportunity to give his side of the story. He does have a side of the story, but that has gone.
“The complainant came to his house, his door. There is upset, understandably. One can understand that, as an animal lover. Obviously, he has been dealt with for other matters. He is to be dealt with for this matter alone.
“There is mention of a head in the complainant’s statement. He has put himself in that position by not being able to advance his account and challenge what is suggested.
“What I can say is, he is someone whose last assault was, I think, in 2013. At the time, he was going through a stressful period. He was involved in a car accident and has a stent in his heart. It has caused him seizures. He is due to have that replaced imminently.
“He obviously is extremely sorry for what happened and how the matter came before the court, but cannot say more about the incident as he has lost his chance. You will note from his last order that he did successfully complete a curfew with no issues. That is how I would ask you to consider dealing with the matter.
“He is waiting for a house move. There are lots of things happening in the background. There have been a number of targeted incident at his house, related to social media accusations. He has had his house smashed up a number of times and is working with his housing officer. There have been repeated window smashings, which are obviously an issue.”
Dressed in a navy blue Moncler jacket over a black T-shirt featuring a bird design across the chest, Dempsey acknowledged the proceedings and seemed to be tallying on his left hand’s fingers as he received a 16-week prison sentence.
He then offered a thumbs up gesture to the courtroom before being escorted to the cells.
During sentencing, District Judge Paul Healey stated: “I have to sentence you on the basis that you acted in the way alleged by the prosecution. I appreciate that you dispute that.
“There is a difficult background to this. The victim paid you to look after his dogs while he went on holiday. You were not licensed to carry out that matter.
“While he was away, unfortunately, one of the five dogs died. You have not been prosecuted for ill treatment or negligence in respect of that. There is no suggestion that you were directly responsible for the death of the dog.
“I can well understand that Mr Hulse and his family were upset. They came back from holiday at short notice. They attended at the address. There are comments about the scene and the condition of the dog, but I have to put that to one side.
“You then assaulted Mr Hulse. You headbutted him to face. You punched him on a number of occasions. You butted him to the face. That is treated as the use of a weapon equivalent.”
Dempsey’s wife, who had previously been reprimanded by the judge for continuously shaking her head as Ms Conlan presented the prosecution’s case, then broke down in tears in the public gallery as two dock officers entered the court and was heard to say “b******”. She was ordered to leave the courtroom after shouting: “It’s all based on f****** lies.”
Continuing his sentencing remarks, Judge Healey said: “I have to have regard to your compliance with the community order. You are in breach of that order. The curfew was done, but you failed to engage in any meaningful way.
“There were missed appointments. You turned up late. The work with probation is a fundamental element of the community order, and you have not done that. It does have to be an immediate custodial sentence.”