Man guilty of hurling dog from tower block window

A former security guard is facing jail after being found guilty of hurling a dog to its death from a Birmingham tower block.

Mahmood Keshavarzi ignored the pleas of owner Mitchel Jagger to return his American Bulldog cross, Zeus, before throwing the animal from his seventh floor window.

The 37-year-old was found guilty of theft and criminal damage following a trial at Birmingham magistrates court.

They adjourned sentencing until August 1 for reports to be prepared but told the defendant that they were considering jail.

The court heard how the incident took place at around 4.30pm on August 29 last year.

A 13-year-old boy saw Keshavarzi drag 15-month-old Zeus from a garden towards the rear entrance of Drews House in Druids Heath.

The teenager called the police who were unable to locate the dog, Simon Brownsey, prosecuting, said.

Mr Jagger came home from work at around 7.30pm and was told by the teenager about the theft.

He began knocking at every door of Drews House until he got to Keshavarzi’s flat, where he spotted dog hair outside on a mat.

“Mr Jagger was banging on the door. He was asking for his dog back,” said Mr Brownsey.

“It’s at that point that he heard a commotion and was told Zeus had been found outside.”

The 13-year-old told the court that he had been outside and had heard Mr Jagger calling for Zeus and the dog barking.

He said: “I heard a massive thump. It sounded like two cars going into each other.

“I looked on the ground and Zeus was lying there. I then heard the sound of a squeaking window.”

Mr Brownsey said that when Keshavarzi’s flat was later searched, police found Zeus’s fur embedded in paintwork near the kitchen window.

He said a crowd gathered around the dying dog, which had suffered severe trauma and was pronounced dead after being taken to the PDSA in Oldbury.

Keshavarzi claimed he had not been the thief and did not know how Zeus had ended up below his kitchen window.