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A man, who broke into a woman’s home and stole her dogs before fatally injuring one of them has been sentenced to over two years in prison.
Mark Linford, 46 of Aston End, Stevenage appeared at Chelmsford Crown Court on Thursday, 4 April where he was sentenced to a total of two years and six months after pleading guilty to burglary and three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
Essex Police were called to an address in East Park in Harlow at around 2:30pm on 18 September last year following reports of a residential burglary, where three chihuahua dogs were stolen.
The suspect was quickly identified as Mark Linford, who was located within an hour of the initial report in a field close to Sheering. Linford was arrested on suspicion of burglary.
The dogs were located later in the day. One of the dogs, Nacho was located next to the railway track at Harlow Mill and having suffered serious injuries, had to sadly be put to sleep.
The other two dogs, Parker and Lola were found close to the train tracks with serious injuries.
Linford was further arrested on suspicion of three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and charged on 19 September with all offences.
After pleading guilty to three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and burglary, he was sentenced to a total of two years and six months in prison.
Linford was also issued with a restraining order against the victim, an Animal Disqualification Order and ordered to pay compensation to the victim.
Following the sentence, the victim said the following:
“No sentence given to Mark Linford (Marco) will ever do justice for the loss of my little Nacho and the devastation it’s caused the whole family and the other two dogs.
“You never think that something so awful could ever happen to you.
“Our animals are like our children, totally innocent.”
Detective Constable Sarah Faircloth, who lead the investigation said "Mark Linford made the decision to take the victim’s three defenceless dogs which goes to show what a dangerous individual he is. The anguish and heartache he has caused is irreparable, which no prison sentence will ever compensate.
"I must commend the victim for her courage throughout the investigation, her support and dedication for justice for Nacho, which in my opinion was the main reason Linford had no choice but to admit his guilt.”