This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/nottinghamshire/8527790.stm

The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Pc on trial over dogs car death Dog deaths Pc 'became distracted'
(about 4 hours later)
A police dog handler will go on trial later accused of causing unnecessary suffering to two dogs that died after being left in his car on a hot day. A police dog handler left two German Shepherds to die from heatstroke in the back of his car when he was distracted by paperwork, a court has heard.
Pc Mark Johnson will appear at Nottingham Magistrates' Court accused of killing his dogs, 18-month-old Jay-Jay and Jet, 10, on 30 June last year. Nottinghamshire dog handler Pc Mark Johnson, 39, was suffering from depression and obsessive compulsive disorder when he forget the dogs.
The German shepherd dogs were found in the back of Pc Johnson's car at Nottinghamshire Police's HQ. The dogs were left in the car for several hours when temperatures reached 29.3C (84.7F) in June last year.
Pc Johnson, 39, denied the charges at the same court at an earlier hearing. He denies confining the dogs to the detriment of their wellbeing.
The defendant, who has been suspended from the Nottinghamshire force, will go on trial before a district judge. He is currently on bail. Paul Taylor, prosecuting the case for the RSPCA, told the trial at Nottingham Magistrates' Court: "Jet and Jay-Jay [the dogs] suffered excruciating pain when their handler Pc Johnson left them in the boot of his private motorcar.
The RSPCA is bringing the prosecution, accusing Pc Johnson of "unnecessarily confining them [the dogs] in an environment that was detrimental to their well-being". "Pc Johnson's usual routine would have been to have transferred them to a police vehicle which had an air cooling unit but he did not transfer them and went about his business.
Temperatures on 30 June, the day the dogs died, reached 29.3C (84.7F). His actions had catastrophic consequences for the two dogs in the car Prosecutor Paul Taylor
"He had some paperwork which needed to be done and by the time he realised what had happened, seven hours had passed and he went out and realised the dogs had died.
"Pc Johnson had always been devoted to animals and his dogs in particular - who would have saved his life or got him out of tricky situations on operations in the past.
"I can find no evidence that he harboured any malice towards his dogs or that he would have wished to harm them but he made an error which nevertheless had fatal consequences for the animals.
"His failure in this case is an aberration of his normal high standards. However his actions had catastrophic consequences for the two dogs in the car."
On June 30 last year, Pc Johnson drove his black Ford Mondeo estate to Nottinghamshire Police's HQ in Arnold, just north of Nottingham.
He arrived just before 0700 BST and had planned to transfer the dogs to a police car but it was off the road as the air conditioning system was being fixed.
He found another car but there were no mats in the back and when he went to find some he became distracted by a police briefing.
Distracted
Afterwards, he told his sergeant he wanted to discuss some medical issues with him later in the day but he needed time to do his paperwork.
At about 1030 BST he planned to let his dogs out of the car, give them water and allow them to stretch their legs.
But he became distracted again by a phone call about a missing person.
At noon, he had a meeting with his sergeant about his problems and it was not until nearly 1430 BST that he finally went to check on his dogs.
Both were dead in the car. The RSPCA allege Mr Johnson unnecessarily confined his dogs "in an environment that was detrimental to their wellbeing".
The case continues.