‘Heartbroken’ gran awakes to find £25,000 fish ‘poisoned by neighbour’

A horrified gran is considering moving house after her neighbour ‘deliberately poisoned’ 28 of her beloved pet fish after a heated row.

Christine Whiteley, who ‘knew each fish down to its last scale’ was horrified after waking up to discover the pond housing her £25,000 fish was covered in a thick white foam, believed to be detergent which had been poured in.

The 70-year-old rushed into her garden at 7am on October 25 and said ‘panic stations’ ensued as she frantically scooped the fish, including Koi carp, out of the pond and hosed them in clean water.

The gran-of-four hastily constructed make-shift fish tanks out of her sinks, bathtub and grandchildrens paddling pool in a vain effort to save the fish, some of whom were over 2ft long.

But tragically all but one goldfish, now renamed Lucky, perished and the 28 fish were buried in a mass grave on a family friend’s farm.

Gutted Christine, who’s now considering moving from her home of 48 years because of the incident, believes the culprit could be a local she’d rowed with in the past.

Christine, from Alfreton, Derbyshire, said: ‘I was devastated, as were my daughters.

‘It’s upsetting. You make it [your garden] your own and it takes years.

‘It’s expensive. For one [Koi] that’s about two or three inches long, some of the aquatic places charge £120.

‘I’m missing them terribly. They weren’t fish in a pond, they were all individuals and they were all pets.

‘We’ve known all along who we think has done it. I’m thinking about moving house.’

Christine, who’d raised some of the fish for 28 years, dutifully tended the 18ft-long pond that held Koi carp, Golden Rudd, bream and goldfish.

Many of the fish were presents gifted to her from family members on birthday, Christmas and Mother’s Day.

Christine said: ‘I opened the gate and I looked around the garden and thought, “what the heck’s that?” It was like a big white bag had blown onto the end of my pond.

‘Then I thought “’no way, there’s been no breeze”.

‘I walked down [to the pond], it was like foam, that’s the best way I could describe it, there was a fish already upside down.

‘It was just panic stations getting whatever we could get to put water in because of the fish.

‘There were such a lot of them, it was just too late.

‘The sheer size of these fish, we just couldn’t accommodate where to put them.

‘I got the hosepipe and I tried to flush them out. Quite a few of them were still breathing but their gills were very shallow. I knew I was going to lose them.

‘It was just absolutely manic, they’d been in this particular pond 22 years.’

Christine’s daughter Laura Bates, 38, was there on the morning they found the scene of devastation in the garden.

Laura believes whoever is responsible gained entry to the garden by scaling a fence that borders disused allotments, where mud was found on the panelling.

Lorry driver Laura took the fish to a friend’s farm with her mum where their friend dug a hole and buried them.

Laura said: ‘She was heartbroken and distraught. She said she would have rather it been her than the animals. It was soul destroying.

‘I know they’re only fish but when you’ve had something that’s part of your life for 22 years, it’s bound to affect you.

‘It was horrendous. I went out and had a look and there was foam right up to the fence, it was just so high.

‘The fish were floating, obviously they’d just died.

‘We’ve got a friend that owns a farm and I had to take them in my car.

‘We took them to the farm and then he buried them with a digger.’

Christine’s family have started a GoFundMe page to raise money to get the pond back up and running.

A family member described Christine as loving her pet fish, writing: ‘She absolutely adored her fish. She knew each fish down to its last scale. It was her passion.’

A Derbyshire police spokesman said: ‘We received a report on 25 October of criminal damage at a property in Alfreton, where a number of fish had been killed in a pond.

‘Enquiries are ongoing and anyone who may be able to assist is asked to contact the force with reference 207-251024.’

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