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We would like to make it clear that this case in no way relates to Stephen G. King, a dog trainer based in Romford, Essex. GUILTY Stephen Barry King, originally from Oregon, USA and now living in London has been banned from contact and custody of dogs for eight years, ordered to carry out 100 hours community service and fined £2000 for both causing unnecessary suffering and cruelly terrifying an English bull terrier by a District Judge at Marylebone Magistrates Court on October 15 2002.
GUILTY AS CHARGED:
King, aged 42, advertises his services as a ‘dog
trainer’ in Yellow Pages and was giving Gunner, the English bull terrier, a training
lesson, when he hung the dog on its lead until Gunner foamed at the mouth and lost
consciousness. Odette Hamilton, the dog’s owner, told the court, “ He was bleeding from the
mouth. He was so scared he was pooing himself. He was choking.
King said to me, ‘ he is going to understand that when he feels pain that he has to
stop’.” The court was told that Ms Hamilton contacted King to
help train Gunner because he was disobedient, pulled on the lead and generally boisterous. On
Gunner’s fourth lesson, the choke chain that King had insisted the dog wear was fitted
incorrectly. When King removed it to replace it correctly Gunner tried to run away. It was as a
result of the ensuing struggle that King hung the dog, something he denied in court.
King claimed that, “ Miss Hamilton or God can only answer why she made this up.”
King 'hanging' a dog in a London Park in September 2001 & videoed by Ooze Online King went on to say, “ Gunner was a nice dog. When I
took him for the lesson I realised the chain was on incorrectly. I simply went down and tried to
replace it. When I did this he made to escape and I was worried he would be hit by a car or make
a car hit a pole or, worse, a child playing nearby. “I believe correction is necessary with kids and
dogs. Escalating correction is necessary if the dog’s behaviour escalates. After Gunner tried
to escape he squirmed with me and became stressed to the max. I was trying to protect him; I
didn’t lift him in the air.” Odette Hamilton later agreed to let King keep Gunner,
the bull terrier, for a fortnight’s training at his home. The unfortunate Gunner was returned
cowering to Ms Hamilton with cuts and scabs to his head which King claimed were as a result of
the dog falling downstairs. This conviction is the second one meted out to Stephen King by the UK courts. GUILTY AS CHARGED: In August 2002 King was fined £500 by Camberwell Magistrates Court when he was found guilty on the same charges of both causing unnecessary suffering and cruelly terrifying a German Shepherd dog called Sugar, another dog he was supposedly training. In court
King admitted to ‘helicoptering’ Sugar five times although other witnesses claimed to have
seen him do it at least ten times. When asked in
court why he continued to punish the dog in this way he insisted he had to “make the dog
'safe' to give back to the owner”. King also said “I could have got the owner
killed” and likened it to handing a loaded, cocked gun with a hair trigger to someone who
didn't have a clue how to use it. Ooze Online conducted an investigation on Stephen Barry King
and his dog 'training' methods over several months in 2001. Read about it
here Also read 'See Spot Hang' an investigation into King in his hometown of Portland, Oregon. No material on this website may be copied or published elsewhere without permission. (c) Ooze Online 2001 - 2005 |
Stephen Barry King 