Police were called after the home of Tobias Ellwood was vandalised after the Conservative MP was alleged to have run over and killed a valuable Bengal cat – then reportedly drove off without stopping.
The MP was hailed as a hero in 2017 for trying to save the life of a police officer who was stabbed during the Westminster terror attack. But he is now in disgrace with some of his constituents after the family who owned the cat were allegedly left cradling their dying pet as the MP drove away.
However, a neighbour, who asked not to be named, said there was a simple reason why Ellwood did not stop, saying: “Apparently he didn’t know he had done it till afterwards.”
Ellwood is understood to have offered to provide a replacement animal. Shortly after the incident, his £1m converted barn in the village of Holdenhurst, near Bournemouth in Dorset, had eggs thrown at it and windows smashed with a croquet mallet.
The incident happened when Ellwood – a former army captain who made headlines in 2017 when he went to the aid of PC Keith Palmer who had been fatally stabbed by the terrorist Khalid Masood outside the Palace of Westminster – was driving down a narrow lane leading to the village.
The Hawas family, owners of the cat, did not want to speak in detail about the cat’s death, but a family member told the Daily Mail: “We just want to mourn our cat. We want nothing to do with Tobias Ellwood.”
Julie Holland, 61, who lives opposite the former vicarage owned by Stephanie Hawa, also 61, was also not sympathetic to the MP. Holland, who owns a cat called Boris, named after the prime minister, and a dog called Stanley, after Johnson’s father, said: ‘It’s a disgrace. If he had done that to my cat I would have done something about it. But, she added: “I’m still a supporter.”
A spokesperson for Dorset police said: “We received a report at 2.47pm on Saturday 28 May 2022 relating to damage being caused to a property in Holdenhurst village in Bournemouth.
“Officers conducted inquiries and the parties involved have been identified and spoken to. Following liaison with all parties, the matter was dealt with by way of a community resolution. No arrests were made.”
Ellwood declined to comment. A friend of the MP for Bournemouth East said: “The matter has been resolved.”
