THE Brighton cat killer was an “invisible man” before he made a single mistake, a jury heard.

Steve Bouquet, 54, has denied attacking and killing pet cats in the south coast city.

Rowan Jenkins for the prosecution told Lewes Crown Court in Chichester police inquiries grew into a major investigation as they gathered more and more reports of cats with distinctive injuries.

“Great care was taken by Mr Bouquet to be and remain the invisible man.

“There were no clues left at all and nobody witnessed the attacks, which often happened after the hours of darkness,” Mr Jenkins said.

“But on May 31, 2019, he made a mistake.

Mr Jenkins added in court: “He made a single mistake but that was all that was needed to expose him.”

A camera fixed to the outside of the house where another victim lived picked up a man attacking a cat called Hendrix.

The CCTV showed Mr Bouquet stabbing Hendrix, Mr Jenkins said.

Attacks followed a strikingly unusual pattern and Mr Bouquet searched for news about the investigation, following the story obsessively, Mr Jenkins said.

“This was for a very simple reason... these reports are about him.

“He had not yet been caught at this time and he was still invisible,” Mr Jenkins said.

Ravi Dogra for the defence said there was not enough evidence to convict Mr Bouquet.

“You can’t be sure the person who caused that harm was the defendant,” Mr Dogra said.

Former Royal Navy able seaman Steve Bouquet is accused of killing nine cats and injuring seven more in Brighton between October 2018 and June 2019 in central Brighton.

Nine pets died following vicious attacks with a knife or knives, the court heard.

Hannah, Tommy, Alan, Nancy, Gizmo, Kyo, Ollie, Hendrix and Cosmo were all killed.

Another seven pet animals survived their injuries.

They were Wheatley, Alistair, Rigby, Gideon, Samson, Jasper and Maggie who all survived.

Blood

A knife found in his home address was found to have cat blood on it, the court heard.

“Blood found on the blade and sheath was not human, but feline,” Mr Jenkins said.

Steve Bouquet pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing to 16 counts of damaging and destroying property and one of having a knife in a public place.

The trial at Lewes Crown Court in Chichester continues.