Norwich man convicted of murder boasts of mutilating 'up to 30' cats

A Norwich man who has admitted the murder of a retired lawyer boasted he had also mutilated "up to 30" cats in the city as he faced a charge of cutting the ears off one.

David Iwo, 23, formerly of Palmer Road, Norwich, is due to be sentenced at Preston Crown Court later this month after having previously admitted the murder of Martin Decker.

The 69-year-old was found dead at his home in Birkenhead, near Merseyside on March 7 this year with a post-mortem examination finding he had suffered a severe blunt force head injury.

Iwo appeared at Norwich Crown Court on Tuesday (October 19) facing animal cruelty charges in relation to a cat which had its ears cut off and others which had been put in bags and carried away.

But Iwo, who appeared via videolink, refused to enter pleas to the charges he faced and made a shocking outburst forcing Judge Andrew Shaw to order the defendant be muted.

Iwo, who represented himself, in court said: "I don't care about this...I've got bigger fish.

"I just don't care about this case. F*** your cats."

He later boasted to the court there were "up to 30 cats" he had mutilated with parts "all over Woodcock Road" before adding: "This is only the tip of the iceberg."

Iwo repeated that he "just didn't care" about the case before he was asked to enter pleas to the five offences he has been charged with, including carrying out a prohibited procedure, namely cutting off the ears and back of a cat called Bubba, on April 14, 2019.

After that charge was read out to Iwo he said: "If you want the ears, I can tell you where they are."

He has also been charged with two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a male cat called Smudge, on March 23, 2019, and a female cat called Puss, on April 21, 2019, in that he placed them in a bag.

He had also been charged with attempted theft of both cats.

But after each charge was put to him, instead of entering a plea of guilty or not guilty Iwo stated "don't care" or "just don't care".

Judge Shaw who told Iwo "you're not shocking me", ordered the defendant be muted and said the case would be mentioned next week when he was sentenced for murder.

With Iwo likely to get a life sentence of some length Emma Kehoe, prosecuting, said a decision would be made as to whether it was in the public interest to pursue the case further.

But she acknowledged it had been thus far due to the "upset and distress" the owners of the cats had suffered.

In April 2019 we reported how Bubba, a five-year-old cat, had returned home covered in blood having had his ears cut off.

Speaking at the time, Bubba's owner Georgina Barnes said: "He looked like he had been hit by a car.

"He didn't even let us know he was back, he didn't make any noise."

She added: "He had a lot of fur missing on his back, like he'd been scalped. I called my partner and he noticed Bubba's ears were cut and he had large, deep cut on his back."

Bubba was taken to a vets in Taverham where the injuries were described as the "worst" they had ever seen.

A Preston Crown Court spokesman confirmed Iwo was to be sentenced for murder on Wednesday, October 27 having pleaded guilty on September 22 this year.

Mr Decker was an experienced CPS solicitor specialising in rape prosecutions, Merseyside Police have confirmed.