Pet owners have vowed to sue a dog sitter who allegedly lost the missing ‘Tamworth Five’ after she was today banned from keeping animals for five years.
Louise Lawford, 48, who ran Pawford Paws in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was looking after the five pooches when they vanished in June last year.
Mystery still surrounds the fate of the dogs after they disappeared in Tamworth, Staffordshire and Lawford, of Birmingham, insists they suddenly ran away.
Today Lawford appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court where she admitted an animal welfare offence and three business licensing breaches connected to her now defunct dog-boarding firm.
The charges came after Birmingham City Council launched an investigation into her firm after she lost the animals in Hopwas Woods last year.
Missing pets Pablo, Maggie, Charlie, Ralph and Jack became known as the ‘Tamworth Five’, as their owners appealed for information.
However, the court heard a further five charges relating to that alleged incident had been withdrawn. Prosecutors rejected her claim the dogs ran off – but said they could not prove what happened and had to drop charges relating to the pets’ disappearance.
After the hearing the owners said the case now paved the way for them to take civil action against Lawford.
Louise Lawford (pictured leaving Birmingham Crown Court today) who ran Pawford Paws in Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, admitted an animal welfare offence and three business licensing breaches
The missing dogs owners April Lock, Becky Parsons and Elizabeth and Jim Egan
Becky Parsons, 40, of Erdington who owned Pablo and Maggie, said: ‘It opens up a different avenue for us, for civil proceedings against her. We have a legal team working alongside us.’
April Lock, 28, a business administrator, from Streetly, West Midlands, who owned Ralph and Charlie, said: ‘Today is just the beginning.’
Mrs Lawford sat, with her head bowed, in the dock at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on for what district judge Joanna Dickens called ‘a very strange case’.
Behind her, the owners of the five dogs Mrs Lawford has accepted she lost, packed in to the public gallery, listening intently to the proceedings. The court was told someone in the public gallery had called her a ‘dog killer.’
April Lock left dogs Charlie (right) and Ralph (left) in Lawford’s care while she went to Spain. They have never been found
Pablo, pictured, was one of the Tamworth Five which went missing in June last year
Lawford, 48, who owns a rescue Labrador, pleaded guilty to boarding more than the maximum number of three small dogs allowed at her kennels between June 18 and June 23 last year.
She also admitted boarding dogs from different households without written consent from their owners, and without ensuring dogs were vaccinated, flea-treated and wormed, over the same period.
Mrs Lawford further pleaded guilty to failing to seek veterinary treatment for a West Highland Terrier, named Charlie, after he developed a skin infection on his muzzle, while under her care.
The court was told that her council licence was revoked last year.
Dog owner Becky Parsons, 39, of Erdington, Birmingham lost Pablo the pug and Maggie the Jack Russell (pictured)
Opening the case, Prosecutor Johnathan Barker said: ‘The investigation commenced when Lousie Lawford came forward and notified the animal welfare team on June 25 last year that she had lost five dogs while walking them, and had complaints from owners about their dogs having gone missing.
‘She has always claimed that she lost the dogs while walking them in Hopwas Woods, near Tamworth.
‘That explanation is not accepted by the prosecution.
‘However, a police investigation resulted in no charges being brought against her and unfortunately we are unable to say with any degree of certainty what has happened to the dogs.
‘We are therefore in a position where we are unable to bring charges in respect of that issue.
‘It would be artificial to mount a case against her based on an explanation we do not accept.’
He added: ‘There was a search and, despite being chipped, the dogs were never recovered.’
The court heard that among those who provided statements to the prosecution was her husband, Richard Lawford.
Mr Barker said: ‘He talks about a great number of dogs housed by Mrs Lawford, clearly in excess of the number of dogs permitted by her licence.’
But the judge also heard that the couple had separated in March 2019.
Tom Walkling, in mitigation, said ‘life-long animal-lover’ Mrs Lawford was under ‘extreme pressure and stress’ after the breakdown of her marriage.
He said: ‘Can I start by expressing her extreme and continuing remorse for what happened to those dogs and for her conduct in June last year.
‘I am conscious, on her behalf, that the police, Crown Prosecution Service and council have decided not to charge her in relation to what might well be understood by others as the graver part of her conduct.
After the hearing the missing dog’s owners said the case now paved the way for them to take civil action against Lawford.
‘Despite that, she does want to offer her apologies and sincere remorse for the pain she knows those dog owners suffered, as she is herself a life-long dog owner and lover.
He added that the Pawford Paws business, which had been running for three years by early 2019, had provided a ‘very high level of service’.
But in March 2019, Mr Walkling said, Mrs Lawford suffered a nervous breakdown after her marriage fell apart.
‘She had to move out, she was suffering a great deal,’ he said.
‘She had a nervous breakdown and foolishly decide to continue with her obligations, looking after other people’s dogs.
‘It was a very bad decision to make.
‘Her behaviour in June, her out-of-character behaviour, was because of extreme emotional pressure and stress, which started in March and reached a peak in the summer.’
He added that, since the dogs’ disappearance, Mrs Lawford had received anonymous death threats on social media.
In court, Mr Walkling told the judge that someone in the public gallery had muttered ‘dog killer’ at Mrs Lawford as she walked past.
Sentencing and banning Mrs Lawford from keeping dogs, the judge said: ‘I consider that, in deciding this issue, I have to take account of lost dogs.
‘It would be wrong not to.’
She added: ‘It’s a very sad and difficult situation. I want to be absolutely clear – my powers are extremely limited because of the nature of the charges the prosecution have chosen to proceed with.’
Mrs Lawford was also fined £800 for the offences and ordered to pay £2,616 costs.
Speaking afterwards Ms Parsons added: ‘This has been quite positive because the court refused to accept the loss of the dogs.
It was all about self-preservation with her. She wanted to save her business and reputation. She told us all different stories.
‘We found out about one another through social media.’
Becky’s mother Jackie Broadrick, 57, said: ‘On the day I went to collect them I was told by Louise ‘I need to tell you something. You need to sit down’.
‘She said ‘I have lost the dogs’. I said ‘oh my god’. She claimed she lost them 28 hours earlier the day before.
‘She said ‘I heard a gunshot and Pablo and Maggie bolted’.
‘I thought that was really strange. I went to Hopwas Woods and found another dog owner, Liz Egan. Since then we got blackmailed by people saying they have the dogs.
‘A man said if we did not meet him and give him the reward money, the dogs would be put with their throats cut on our front step.’
Ms Lock who owned Ralph and Charlie, added: ‘We support the council for not charging in relation to the five dogs. Lawford showed no remorse to us.
‘We pleaded with her ‘just tell us the truth’. We know the dogs are dead.’