Gay man who tried to poison lesbian neighbours with slug pellets over three-legged cat feud walks free

By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 9:24 PM on 12th January 2010

A gay man who attempted to poison his lesbian neighbours by pouring slug pellets into their curry after they accused him of kidnapping their three-legged cat has walked free from court.

Gary Stewart, 37, had fallen out with his neighbours, Ann Marie Walton, 38, and Beverley Sales, 36.

But in an apparent bid to restore cordial relations with the pair he offered them a curry from a local Indian takeaway.

When the couple went to eat the meal they found the curry sauce was laced with dozens of tiny blue slug pellets.

Afterwards Stewart said he had done it after he had found the tyres to his car had been slashed with a knife.

He texted a friend saying: 'It was them next door, the f******* fat lesbians, I'm glad I've poisoned them and yes it was slug pellets.'

He was sentenced to a six month suspended jail sentence at Minshull Street Crown Court in Manchester after pleading guilty to attempting to poison the two women on September 22 last year.

The court was told Mr Stewart, who is HIV positive, was devastated after his partner Paul Kleisier, 43, died of an Aids related illness last summer.

He had previously got on well with his neighbours in Denton, Manchester, Miss Sales, an HGV driver, and Miss Walton, a full-time mother, but fell out with them last year after a series of petty arguments.

Then last summer they were involved in a furious row after Stewart told the council they were neglecting their eight-year-old son, Jack, and social workers were called to carry out an investigation.

After that Stewart is alleged to have kidnapped the family's three-legged cat, Amber, and dumped her in a village miles away.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1242637/Gay-man-tried-poison-lesbian-neighbours-slug-pellets-legged-cat-feud-walks-free.html#ixzz0cUu6rW9d

Warm and hoppy

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A Turkish Angora cat is dressed in a rabbit costume, complete with carrot, for a carnival dress show, part of the World Xoo exhibition, in Russia's Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk.

Metro Ireland, 11 January 2009, p11.

Norfolk cat found frozen in snow survives

NORFOLK, Mass. -- A cat found frozen in the snow has made a miraculous recovery.

Annie, a 13-year-old tuxedo cat, disappeared during snowstorm in early December on the day her family was moving. After Annie had been missing for five weeks, her family feared the worst.

“We were so worried about her with the cold temperatures and the snow. We really just kept our fingers crossed, and it’s a miracle she's here,” said her owner, Alison.

Alison helped put up missing pet fliers. The family also contacted Animal Control for help.

“We just crossed our fingers that she could come home and that she would come home or that someone would find her,” said Alison.

This past weekend, Animal Control officers received a call regarding Annie.

“Basically, when I picked her up, she had no signs of life. She was stiff, she was unconscious, cold to the touch and not responding to anything,” said Hilary Cohen, a Norfolk Animal Control officer.

Yet Annie started to move about once she was inside the cruiser.

“I realized driving down the road that her whiskers started twitching, and I realized we needed to work on this cat right away,” said Cohen.

Annie received fluids and heat therapy for nourishment. She also was treated for frostbite.

The cat is recovering nicely and expected to go home some time next week.

“She had a strong heart and a strong will to live that was just incredible,” said Alison.

Animal Control officers say if Annie had been out in the cold any longer, she may not have survived.

See video at: http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO133058/