Police Commissioner candidates say....

Given the interest locally in the case of the cat killed by greyhounds, and to give local interest to next week's vote for the role of Police Commissioner, AudlemOnline has written to the four candidates asking for their view of the case.

John Dwyer, the current Police Commissioner, and Conservative candidate in next week's election, had already received details of the case directly from Linda Davis and has replied to AudlemOnline's query saying:

"I have been made aware of the incident and I have asked the Chief Constable for an explanation as to the Police position on this matter.

"As the Police and Crime Commissioner my role is to hold the Chief Constable to account and this is exactly what I am doing in this case. The details given to me are quite harrowing and I can understand how people are outraged at what has happened.

"It is inappropriate for me to say anything further until I have the comments from the Chief Constable."

The Lib Dem candidate Neil Lewis has also responded, saying: "This is a shocking incident and my heart goes out to Lin and her cat Hamish.

"As a family, we had, until quite recently, two cats and a dog, so I do share the horror of what happened.

"I am glad that the incident has been reported to the police.

"As the future Police & Crime Commissioner my role is to ensure that the police do their job well. The responsibility for the work of the police lies with the Chief Constable and my role is to hold him to account.

"I would hope and expect that if there is a basis for prosecution that this is pursued in a professional manner by the police.

"The police also have an important but less clearly defined role for neighbourhood policing and local problem solving. I would hope that your community police are in close contact and are working to find solutions to the situation.

"In regards to the Dangerous Dogs Act, this is an act of parliament and therefore, if Lin and the neighbours believe that the act fails to provide sufficient safety, then this is something that they should take up with their MP in the first instance.

"I would be glad to add my voice to any proposals that make our streets safer for our animals, however, this is primary responsibility of MPs. If there are any concerns about the police, then I would be very willing to take those up with the Chief Constable.

"Again, let me express my sympathy to Lin."

David Keane, the Labour candidate, has responded saying he will let us have his view which we will publish when we receive it, as we will with a comment from the UKIP candidate Jonathan Starkey when he gets back to us.

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