Jack David Tilbury: Meth user who fatally tortured partner’s dog and pretended to search for it spared jail

A man who tortured his girlfriend’s dog, abducted it then pretended to help search for it before it died has been spared a jail sentence, with the magistrate expressing surprise the woman remains in a relationship with him. Jack David Tilbury had nowhere to live before the woman took him into her Leda home. He had been awake for 24 hours on a variety of drugs including methamphetamines when he committed the appalling crime in the early hours of January 19. Over two hours, he punched, slapped, kicked and threw Bella the Jack Russell, wrapped the dog in a towel then dropped it, and hit it with objects including a pole and garden tools. He took the dog away, then pretended to look for the “lost” pet alongside the woman. When she finally reviewed CCTV footage, she saw what had happened. After two days, Tilbury called to say Bella was still alive and he was prepared to bring her back. But she was suffering seizures when the 26-year-old returned her and died from her injuries at a veterinary clinic. “That was an ongoing assault of a vulnerable and helpless animal,” Magistrate Clare Cullen said on Wednesday as Tilbury appeared via video link from Casuarina Prison. “It wasn’t just an assault with your hands, it was an assault with a barrage of weapons. “You tortured that animal and it continued to suffer over the next two days. “You were on a cocktail of drugs and lost it in the most extreme way against a vulnerable animal.” She said the violence was persistent, deliberate and intentional. While Tilbury was upset with the woman after an argument, he was not being sentenced on the basis that he sought to traumatise her in a domestic violence context. The magistrate said it was “somewhat surprising” the partner, whose two children lived at the property, had stayed with Tilbury and supported him. He had also been drinking before the brutal attack and claimed not to remember what he’d done. Ms Cullen took into account Tilbury’s time in jail since his swift arrest days after the attack and sentenced him to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 14 months. She also fined him for 13 other offences including drugs and weapons charges. The decision not to hand him more prison time was a “lineball call”, the magistrate said, with some steps he had taken toward addressing his drug problem the deciding factor. Tilbury’s family were present in court, also lending him their support, and declined to speak to The West Australian outside court.