Jealous thug's fury over sausage dog puppy landed him in prison
A teenager's fury over a dachshund puppy landed him in a prison cell. Jack Laffey threatened to "snap the necks" of both the dog and his girlfriend because he feared that she would begin seeing other men if he was sent to prison.
He pursued her around the streets in a car, jumping onto the bonnet of her vehicle and even kicked the windscreen. The thug then brushed his actions off as "a bit of murder with my bird".
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday (September 17) that Laffey had been in a relationship with Amy Connolly since January this year before the couple bought a dachshund puppy called Timmy on April 24. But they began to argue as he "believed she would sleep with other people while he was in jail", with the 19-year-old apparently being wanted by Merseyside Police and intending to hand himself in, and he "did not want her to have the dog any more".
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Louise Santamera, prosecuting, described how he then phoned his partner from a withheld number 20 times "in a short period" on April 26. Fearing that Laffey would visit her home, Ms Connolly left the address in her car, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The teen then called her on FaceTime "demanding to know where she was" as he "wanted the dog back" and "didn't want her to be with another man and the dog when he was in prison". He also "threatened to snap the dog's neck, snap her neck and put a brick over her dad's head", adding: "A whip is going through your window and your house is getting burned down."
Ms Connolly thereafter returned to her home in West Derby and found Laffey, of no fixed address, present as a passenger in a Ford Focus being driven by one of his friends. She drove away again as a result, but was followed by the other car onto Lansdown - where he got out of the vehicle and began punching and kicking her windows before smashing her passenger side wing mirror.
She fled onto Mill Lane but had to stop at a set traffic lights near to Queens Drive. There, Laffey again exited the car and damaged Ms Connolly driver's side mirror.
She drove away once more but was overtaken by the other car at the junction of Alder Road and Eaton Road. The other vehicle, which was by now being driven by the defendant, then "slammed on its brakes, forcing her to stop".
Laffey alighted the vehicle again and began banging on her windows, attempted to open her boot and he snapped her rear wiper off. He then drove away "due to the level of attention being given from members of the public and passing motorists", but waited for Ms Connolly further along Eaton Road.
There, he pulled up alongside her car once more and jumped onto her bonnet before kicking at the windscreen while making further threats to burn her house down. Laffey continued onwards back to her house, where he was ultimately arrested.
He told officers at this stage that he had "had a bit of murder with his bird but hadn't committed any offences". After being transported into custody at St Anne Street Police Station, he claimed he "couldn't move his legs and couldn't get out of the police van".
While PCs attempted to help him into a wheelchair, Laffey tried to bite one and "lunged with his head" towards another. Under interview, he denied having driven the car or "committing any other offence".
He was previously handed a six-month suspended prison sentence in February this year for dangerous driving and aggravated vehicle taking. It came after Laffey was caught behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Grandland, which a "vulnerable female had been coerced into taking out a hired agreement on" before the car was taken from her, at 70mph in a 30mph on Netherfield Road in Everton and failing to stop for the police.
This conviction also saw him handed a driving ban. Callum Ross, defending, told the court: "He appears to show some remorse. He does wish to apologise for his actions."
"He told me that he accepts what he has done and that it was wrong. He has had considerable time on remand to think about his actions."
"He does have significant mobility issues as a result of nerve damage to his spine, which was self-inflicted as a result of the usage of nitrous oxide in the past. He does remain wheelchair dependant, other than being able to walk very short distances with the assistance of others or crutches."
"Your honour will have read about the difficulties in his upbringing. He is a young man who needs help, and I will quote him, with getting his life back on track."
Laffey admitted criminal damage, a malicious communications offence, driving while disqualified, driving without insurance and breaching a suspended sentence order. Appearing in court via video link seated in a wheelchair, he was handed a year in a young offenders' institute by Judge David Potter.