Carpenter, 36, pleads guilty to killing ex-girlfriend’s 49 tropical fish by pouring Lenor into tank

A man killed his girlfriend’s tropical fish by pouring fabric conditioner into their tank in retaliation at being dumped by her, a court heard.

Benjamin Avill went into a ‘fit of rage’ when Jenny Daniels told him their 12 year relationship was over.

He grabbed a nearby bottle of Lenor fabric conditioner and emptied it into the large tank that contained 50 fish.

Avill, 36, was said to have laughed as the tropical fish were poisoned.

All but one of them died with the sole survivor, a bristlenose pleco fish called Bob, now living with Miss Daniels in a much smaller tank.

Miss Daniels, from Bournemouth, Dorset, reported her ex to the RSPCA and they have now prosecuted him for animal cruelty.

Avill, a carpenter, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal when be appeared before magistrates in Poole.

The court was told the fish died an ‘acute and unnecessary death’ and that Avill had shown ‘no remorse’.

Matthew Knight, prosecuting on behalf of the RSPCA, said: ‘The fish were jointly owned by the defendant and Ms Daniels.

‘They were arguing and in a fit of rage he poured a three litre bottle into the tank.

‘An expert has since said they would have died an acute and unnecessary death.

‘Fish can and do suffer and the defendant has shown very little remorse for his actions which caused the death of a lot of fish.’

Avill had his case adjourned for reports and he will be sentenced next month.

The tank after the attack with fabric conditioner. He grabbed a nearby bottle of Lenor fabric conditioner and emptied it into the large tank that housed 50 fish

All but one of them were poisoned with the only survivor, a fish called Bob, now living with Miss Daniels in a much smaller tank

Afterwards Miss Daniels called Avill an ‘awful person’.

‘I was horrified and shocked by what he did. It was disgusting by him and it terrified me to think what else he would do.

‘I also have a cat and was scared he might try and harm him too.

‘I couldn’t have imagined he’d kill the fish, all the while laughing.

‘It was just an awful thing to do and I think he should be sent to prison for it.

‘Bob is having to go to the vet because of what happened and I’m going to have to get him a bigger tank because the other one was completely ruined.’

The animal rights charity PETA also slammed Avil.

The sole survivor ‘Bob’ the Bristle nosed plecko who is now living with Miss Daniels in a much smaller tank

Spokeswoman Mimi Bekhechi said: ‘Only someone who is abominably cruel and totally devoid of empathy would attempt to hurt a woman by deliberately and callously poisoning almost 50 sensitive animals kept in her home.

‘Fish have the same capacity to suffer as other animals do and ingesting toxic chemicals poured into a tank would have been extremely painful for them.

‘We hopes the court will hand down the maximum sentence available as well as instructing the offender to attend mandatory counselling, because repeat offences are the rule rather than the exception among animal abusers.