Thug jailed after ripping pet bird apart in front of his beaten girlfriend

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:50 PM on 30th April 2010

A THUG who beat his partner and tore her pet parrot apart in front of her has been jailed for 16 months.

Keith Doyle, 34, attacked his girlfriend of seven years before turning his rage on her African grey parrot Jasper, killing it by pouring scalding hot tea over it and ripping out its feathers as it squawked in distress.

All the while their four-year old son cowered in fear upstairs.

Last night the woman's parents, Pat and Cath Regan, spoke out on behalf of their eldest daughter, 23 - who was too traumatised to comment and did not want to be identified.

And the couple slammed the 16-month prison sentence handed to Doyle at Preston Crown Court - of which eight months is on licence.

Mr Regan, of Sandbrook Road, Ainsdale, said: 'With good behaviour, the police have told us that this thug could be out by August.

'He put our daughter through hell and, quite frankly, she is lucky to be alive. He beat her to a pulp and threatened to kill her. How can this be genuine justice for what he did?'

The court heard unemployed Doyle wrecked the pair's home on Bonfire Night last year after drinking, smashing windows and breaking furniture.

He then went on to attack his long-term partner, hitting her in the face and body. He also bit her fingers in several places.

Mr Regan said:'Blood and broken glass were all over the house.

'He poured his cup of tea over Jasper in its cage and pulled its feathers out as it was squawking. Jasper was almost human, he talked. It is sickening what he did.'

Doyle's partner had to be taken to Southport hospital for treatment. Mr Regan added: 'She is scarred for life. It will always be with her. I can only imagine what it must have been like for her that night.

'We had warned her for years that this would happen. She had been trying to get away from him, but she was in his grip. She was so scared of him."

Doyle pleaded guilty to three counts of actual bodily harm, causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and making threats to kill on November 5, 2009. He was also ordered not to keep pets for five years.

Mrs Regan said: 'All of us are outraged that he could be out by August after serving four months of what is an already lenient sentence. None of our family want anything to do with him ever again.'

From: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1269981/Keith-Doyle-Ripping-pet-bird-apart-beaten-girlfriend-gets-thug-jailed.html