Steve Brown, 51, was arrested in 2023 after his neighbour alerted the SSPCA over the shocking abuse of animals and decided to take it out on a young girl’s bike by destroying it
A neighbour from hell who had abused animals ran over a young girl’s bike with his car in an act of pathetic revenge. Steve Brown was caught on CCTV not long after being released from police custody ahead of appearing in court for his crimes against defenseless pups.
His neighbour, John Greechan, had previously informed the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) that sick Brown was mistreating dogs at his “house of horrors” flat in Ashgill, Lanarkshire. The 51-year-old was initially arrested and then hauled away in handcuffs in June 2023, but later allowed to leave.
Brown – who also went by the name Seb Rozental after the former Rangers striker in the 1990s – was also forced to leave his home after animal-loving neighbours told him he was no longer welcome in Prospect Drive. But after being released from police custody he was seen on CCTV grabbing a pink bike belonging to Mr Greechan’s daughter and placing it under his blue BMW car, reports the Daily Record.
He then runs over the bike’s front wheel and follows up by reversing over it to make sure. Incredibly, he then gets out of the car and repositions the bike to further mangle it.
Neighbours were stunned that Brown had allowed his further, spiteful crime against the child to be captured on CCTV. It was video evidence that nailed him for the animal cruelty charges.
The brutish animal owner – who kept four Chihuahuas and other dogs at his dingy home in was eventually banned from keeping animals for five years and put on an electronic tag. Neighbours were outraged at footage taken of attacks on the tiny dogs and on one occasion appalled to see him take the apparently lifeless body of a German shepherd pup from his home after claiming they heard dogs “screaming” in agony.
Dad-of-three Mr Greechan said: “He’s just a horrible guy, a proper coward who attacks defenceless wee Chihuahuas and takes out his revenge on wee lassies. He’s pathetic.
”When I saw the CCTV I could hardly believe my eyes. He knew that I’d reported him for the way he was abusing dogs but he decided to take out his revenge on my kids. I told him to his face. But he’s been so stupid, allowing himself to get caught on camera, just as he did when he was kicking the wee dogs and dragging them around the garden in a right state.”
Mr Greechan said Brown appeared to have a think about how to ensure he destroys the bikes. “It looks like he’s trying to make out it was an accident, although that would be a stretch when you consider he runs over one bike four times,” he said.
The upstairs neighbour also added the he got on fine with Brown until the animal cruelty came to light. He said: “The guy was weird but he was ok at the start. But when the CCTV started to get shared there wasn’t a person in the street who wanted him there. There were a lot of dog owners and animal lovers there and it wasn’t right what he was doing.”
Mr Greechan said he was forced to move out of his home at one point after Brown revealed that a large snake had gone missing. He explained: “He told me that the snake had gone missing and he suspected it was in the walls of the houses – which would mean a shared wall between our homes.
“I have a real phobia about snakes and there was no way I could sleep if I thought one might appear, so I had to move out for a few days. It eventually turned up behind his washing machine. He turned into a neighbour from hell.”
Brown was convicted at court of two charges relating to serious cruelty against animals, with his crimes laid bare in shocking videos handed to the SSPCA’s Special Investigations Unit. Furious neighbours who gathered outside Brown’s home after the SSPCA and police were called in have told how they watched officers emerge with a metal pipe that was covered in dog blood.
A dog tooth was also found in the toilet, where blood was also found on the bath and floor. After viewing footage of the German shepherd pup being dragged out of Brown’s flat, vet Neil McIntosh said: “In my opinion, the dog was not alive, as it made no efforts to move or struggle as it was dragged along. It exhibited extensor rigidity, which would be consistent with death.”
At Hamilton Sheriff Court last November, Brown pleaded guilty to causing suffering to a Chihuahua- now deceased. He also admitted causing unnecessary suffering to another Chihuahua by kicking it. The court accepted a not guilty plea to a charge Brown mistreated seven dogs, subjecting them to fear and distress.
That charge stated four of the dogs had died by unknown means. He was given a community payback order, to be completed in two years, and put on an electronic tag for five months. He was also banned from keeping any animal for five years.
