HOW did the case ‘Officer cleared over cat dispute’ arrive at the courts? (Echo, Jan 9).

My sympathies do lie with the cleared police officer.

The owner of the cat advises she reported the matter to the local antisocial behaviour team.

Why did they not immediately advise the cat owner to take steps to prevent the cat ‘messing’ in the police officer’s garden?

I do not have a cat, or dog for that matter, as I do not want to go around cleaning up after them so why should I have to clean up after the animals of other people.

The police officer was quite right to return the ‘mess’ to its rightful owner and even then would have still had to pick it up.

Mike Taylor, Darlington