A man who tried to poison his neighbours dogs by throwing drug laced sausages into their garden has avoided jail.
CCTV captured Michael Moore throwing the sausages covered in a white powder and green paste over the fence in the middle of the night before walking back into his house after an 18-month dispute over a boundary wall escalated.
Neighbour and mum-of-three Jade Wilkinson managed to wrestle the poisoned snacks away from her two dogs.
She sent them off for analysis which found they were covered in codeine, paracetamol, the Liverpool Echo reports.
Andrew Page, prosecuting, told the court that Moore was captured throwing the sausages into her garden at 3.26am.
He said: “It was a piece of sausage covered in a white powder and green paste.
"She Googled what it might be and thought it might be slug pellets. Michael Moore came out from the rear of his house and could be seen walking to the end of the fence and was seen to throw sausage over the fence before walking back to his house.
“The sausage was sent for analysis which demonstrated a medical preparation of codeine and paracetamol, crushed tablets and capsules. It was not possible to identify the green substance but from its appearance it may have been a slug pellet preparation.”
The dogs, a German Shepherd called Miles and a Belgian Shepherd called Storm, were unharmed.
Mr Page said Moore, 62, was contacted by police on numerous occasions to come for an interview but he declined to do so.
He said Ms Wilkinson had lived at her home in Southport for many years while Moore moved next door about four years ago.
Initially they got on well but their relationship soured 18 months ago “when a dispute broke out over the boundary wall.”
Moore had pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to administering a poisonous drug or substance to a protected animal, namely a dog, knowing it was poisonous or injurious.
At a subsequent hearing he applied to change his plea but a district judge refused his application and his solicitor then had to withdraw from the case. Moore appeared for sentence unrepresented.
Asked by District Judge James Hatton if he had anything to say he began to make derogatory assertions about his neighbour but was stopped by the judge. Asked about his behaviour Moore said: “I didn’t throw anything over the fence.”
But DJ Hatton told him that “that ship has already sailed” as he had pleaded guilty and said: “You have thrown those items over the fence”.
Moore muttered “I cannot really say anything" but went on to say while he is still living next to Ms Wilkinson he has sold his house and plans to move to the Preston area.
DJ Hatton told Moore he had committed a very serious offence by throwing poisoned sausages over the fence with intent to cause suffering to the dogs. He said: “You did that because you had had a falling out with your neighbour.
"You not only placed those animals at significant risk but there are three young children who could have been put at significant risk.”
He said only a custodial sentence was appropriate and imposed an 18 week jail term suspended for 12 months.
He also ordered him two carry out 20 days rehabilitation activities and to pay £213 court costs. A five year restraining order to keep away from Ms Wilkinson was also imposed on Moore.
