Chilling predictions that Aaron Ray would become a murderer were made before he stabbed student Jason Brockbanks to death.
The 21-year-old is today facing a life sentence after he was convicted of murdering his boyfriend after finding messages from other men on his phone.
And now we can reveal how Ray's disturbing past behaviour sparked fears he would go on to become a violent criminal.
There was outrage when Ray was handed a suspended sentence after being convicted of inflicting horrific cruelty on a pet bird.
South Tyneside Magistrates Court heard how Ray, who was just 18 at the time, left the cockatiel with fatal injuries after plunging a knife into the back of its neck during a fit of rage.
Police found the the dead animal after being called to a disturbance at a home in Sunderland.
And when quizzed by officers, Ray told them “it’s just a bird, it’s not a crime".
Ray was handed a 12-week prison sentence suspended for a year and banned from keeping animals for 15 years.
The sentence sparked fury among Chronicle readers with some predicting that Ray's treatment of the bird suggested he was not safe to walk the streets.
And some comments on Facebook chillingly predicted what the future would hold for Ray.
Ian King wrote: "Future domestic violence offender, and murderer. Horrible animal."
While Doreen Turnbull posted: "If he did this to a bird. I dread to think what he would do to anyone or animals who upsets him. Not fit to walk the streets. Lock him up and throw away the key."
David Fawcett said: "This kid is a killer in the making."
And Louise Davidson added: "Animals now humans as he gets older."
Calling for animal abusers like Ray to be locked up Lorna Davidson wrote: "Why do these cretins not get jail sentences although that option is there. The courts need to start taking this behaviour seriously and start dishing out custodial sentences."
And Judy Longfellow said: "Because the judiciary service is so lacking in common sense, I can see something really dreadful occurring in the future. He definitely needs some kind of help soon. There are far too many incidents happening when they could possibly be avoided if more had been done when these people come to the law's attention."
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Northumbria University undergraduate Jason was found dead in his student accommodation in September last year.
Prosecutors told how moments before the attack Ray videoed himself scrolling through messages on his partner's phone showing he had been engaging with other men online.
The court heard how Ray knifed Jason, as he lay under his duvet then left him to die. He was found dead by a member of staff at Mansion Tyne, on Stoddart Street, Newcastle, slumped in his shower cubicle, three days later.
Tragically the court heard Jason, who was from Cumbria, might have survived if he had got medical help.
Ray, of Mayfield Road, Sunderland, denied murder but was convicted after the trial.
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