Crawley man who stabbed sheep gets suspended sentence

Matthew Dean, 18, of Whittington Road, Tilgate, was sentenced for hitting, kicking and stabbing a sheep which was being kept at the park’s Nature Centre in October 2014 when he appeared before Crawley magistrates yesterday (Tuesday March 22).

A court spokesman said he was jailed for 14 weeks suspended for 12 months with requirements to do 90 hours of supervised unpaid work and comply with a daily electronic tag curfew from 9pm to 7am. He was ordered to pay £50 compensation, £20 victim surcharge and £750 costs.

Dean and Kieran Taylor, 18, of Holbein Road, Tilgate, were jointly charged with one count of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal after nature centre staff found the young semi-wild male Boreray sheep savaged and burned in the woods on October 16 2014.

Taylor was sentenced in January after he pleaded guilty to the charge and one count of arson.

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