The sentencing of Brighton Cat Killer Steve Bouquet has been adjourned after he was taken to hospital.

Former security guard and Royal Navy seaman Steve Bouquet carried out an eight month campaign of brutal knife attacks on pets in the city.

Serial cat killer Steve Bouquet, 54, stabbed at least 16 pet cats and potentially many more, police said.

He killed nine cats and seven more he left for dead survived.

Bouquet was due to be sentenced today.

His Honour Jeremy Gold QC told the court Bouquet was not fit to attend court due to a physical illness.

"He is in hospital due to physical illness and not fit to be produced in court this morning.

"I understand the diagnosis was only made at the end of the working week," the judge said.

Bouquet remains in custody and will appear again on July 30.

Police were baffled and The Brighton Cat Killer was an invisible man until he was revealed by a single error, the court heard.

A breakthrough in the gruesome mystery came when a CCTV system set up by an owner of a slain cat appeared to capture a fresh attack on camera.

Rowan Jenkins for the prosecution said: “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.

“He made a single mistake but that was all that was needed to expose him.”

On May 31, 2019, Stewart Montgomery and his partner Agatha were at home when their nine-month-old black kitten Hendrix came in bleeding heavily.

They rushed him to the vet but the injury – a single knife wound driven right through from side to side – was too severe and he did not survive.

When he got home, Mr Montgomery noticed a trail of blood and saw a CCTV camera nearby.

The camera had in fact been set up by a neighbour whose cat had been stabbed and killed the year before.

The shopping mall security guard did not appear at Chichester Crown Court and the trial went ahead in his absence.

Prosecutor Rowan Jenkins told jurors: “In 2018 Sussex Police commenced what became a major investigation following reports of domestic cats being targeted and deliberately stabbed in Brighton.

“Sometimes owners … found that their cats were still alive and were able to take timely action to try and save them by rushing them to their vets.”

However, nine cats received injuries so serious that they could not be saved.

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

Another seven animals, Wheatley, Alistair, Rigby, Gideon, Samson, Jasper and Maggie survived.

Lewes Crown Court, sitting in Chichester, heard Bouquet had pictures of the cats he attacked on his phone.

When they searched his flat, police found a knife stained with feline blood in his kitchen.

Phone data placed him at or near the scene when cats were attacked.

Bouquet obsessively searched online for coverage of his animal cruelty.

He copied reports from The Argus and The Guardian on to his phone as news of his crimes spread.

Bouquet was convicted of damaging and destroying property and could be jailed.