A woman killed her former partner’s cherished Koi Carp fish by pouring bleach into their pond after he ended their relationship.
Helen Driver, 54, was ‘extremely upset and aggrieved’ at being dumped over the phone so went straight to his home in Cramlington, Northumberland, on March 26.
While he was out, CCTV showed Driver sneaking into his garden and emptying two bottles of the cleaner into his pond.
The man tried to rescue them when he got back by placing them in a wheelbarrow filled with fresh water but all six died.
Driver pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and criminal damage at South Eat Northumberland Magistrates’ Court.
She was sentenced to a 12-month community order.
The court heard the fish were worth £1,382 – but the victim described them being priceless.
He said in an impact statement: ‘I’m truly devastated at the loss of my fish.
‘They were of great sentimental value to me as I had had them for seven years.’
He added: ‘When I got back, I found two empty 2.5L bottles of bleach on the floor. They were near the fish pond.
‘I noticed Helen’s vehicle parked on the drive and she was peering through a fence. I asked her if she had poured bleach in the fish pond and she nodded.’
Mark Harrison, defending, said Driver’s relationship with the victim had been her first since the end of her 30-year-marriage.
He said she was hurt by the way it had ended, adding: ‘She was extremely upset and aggrieved by how she had been treated.
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‘She knew he was obsessed with the PH levels of his pond and she wanted to upset that rather than kill the fish.
‘She hadn’t intended to harm the fish.’
Mr Harrison said that since the incident, Driver had been to see a GP and had been prescribed anti-depressants.
Driver was also ordered to pay £1,392 compensation, a £114 victim surcharge and £85 costs.
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