A man has been jailed for three years after throwing his grandmother’s cat at a door in a drunken rage over a football match.
Kieron Thornby, 20, of Western Hill, Sunderland, has also been banned from keeping animals for life after pleading guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the ginger tabby cat named Teddy Bear.
The incident occurred on May 13, 2023, when Thornby was staying at his grandmother’s home in Woking.
Guildford Crown Court heard that Thornby had been left alone with the cat while watching a football match when he became upset and threw the defenceless pet against a door.
Teddy Bear the tabby who sadly died at the Surrey
RSPCA
The cat later died from its injuries, which included five rib fractures and haemorrhages to the lungs, neck and jaw. Thornby initially claimed that Teddy Bear’s injuries were caused when plastic boxes fell on the pet.
He told investigators that he heard “a number of loud noises” while watching football and found the cat crying in pain beneath fallen boxes.
According to his account, when he tried to help the injured cat, it scratched him, causing him to drop it on the floor. He then claimed that when he took the cat to the kitchen to clean blood from its face, the animal bit him.
However, a post-mortem examination revealed the cat’s extensive injuries could not have been caused by falling boxes.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Guildford Crown Court
PA
The vet determined that Teddy Bear had suffered five rib fractures, a haemorrhage to the brain, haemorrhages to the lungs, neck and jaw, and a collapsed lung.
The examining vet stated: “Rib fractures are a common abuse finding in cats and dogs and may occur due to an application of force, which includes the animal being struck, kicked, stomped or thrown against a blunt object.”
The vet added that the number and location of injuries were inconsistent with Thornby’s claim about a box falling on the cat.
RSPCA Inspector Jo Bowling investigated the property and found only one plastic box containing crafting items.
The inspector said: “Thornby had stated that a clear plastic box, the size of an armchair, had fallen on Teddy Bear, but the only clear plastic box I could see was approx 2ft by 1ft by 1ft. It wasn’t heavy, I could pick up one end using just one hand.”
The vet concluded the cat had suffered “a very high level of suffering” for at least several minutes before death.
In sentencing Thornby, the judge said: “You killed a living creature and a cat that was very dear to your grandmother who could have not done any harm to you,” the judge told Thornby.
“What you did was pick up that defenceless animal because in drink you were upset with the football, picked him up and threw him at a door.”
In mitigation, the court heard the defendant had a “traumatic upbringing” and he had shown a “lack of maturity”.
He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228 in addition to his jail sentence.
