Man and puppy pursued by giant cat in south London

A jogger was forced to run for his life after encountering the infamous Beast of Sydenham. Father-of-four Roger Fleming, 40, was on a late night run with his puppy King on December 9 near Sydenham Hill station when a giant cat chased them through Dulwich Wood.

Mr Fleming believes the creature, which he says looked like a brown cheetah, was the Beast of Sydenham, seen several times in the area over the years. The building services manager first saw the beast at the bottom of a path in the wood.

He said: “It was at least five or six feet long. I thought to myself ‘what the hell is this?’ That’s when the panic set in. It sat there, locked its eyes on to me, sat up and - boom - it started running towards us.”



Mr Fleming grabbed hold of his Staffordshire bull terrier and ran through the wood. He said: “I looked over my shoulder and could see it still running at me. I was just thinking ‘please stop’. It was knackering and I was almost ready to give up.

“I was thinking ‘this is it - I think I’m going to die’. I swear an oath to God never to go to that same part at night again. There should be signs telling people to take some caution because they’re walking around willy-nilly.”

Neil Arnold, a researcher who runs Kent Big Cat Research, said the beast is believed to be a black leopard, the offspring of pets released into the wild. He said: “He should have stood his ground, maintained eye contact and backed off slowly - but it’s easy to say that.”