Teenagers who tortured and killed two kittens sentenced

Independent

04-08-2025

A teenage girl and boy who tortured and killed two kittens have been sentenced after one animal was 'completely ripped open' and found hanging from a tree.
The 17-year-olds, who cannot be named for legal reasons, launched the 'sadistic' attack on the animals on 3 May near Ickenham Road, Ruislip, in north-west London.
The kittens were found cut open with ropes attached to them, and 'dead pieces of flesh and fur appeared to have been burnt off them', a court heard.
The hearing was told the boy had also dreamed of killing a human and 'getting away with murder', with police analysis of his phone showing he had also researched 'sacrificing animals to satan' and watched a 'significant amount of videos of animals that have been mutilated and people that have been beheaded'. The court heard a note on his device read: 'I have got close to satisfying my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats.'
The police officer also told the hearing there were 'a few images of kittens that had been quite badly mutilated' on the phone of the girl, who was aged 16 at the time, as well as videos downloaded from a 'gore website' in the months leading up to the incident.
The defendants appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates' Court in May and pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the protected animals by 'mutilating and killing' them. They also both admitted one count of possession of a knife at Ruislip Golf Course.
The boy was sentenced to a 12-month detention and training order, and the girl was sentenced to a nine-month detention and training order, both at the same court in London on Monday.
Passing sentence, District Judge Hina Rai described the case as 'deeply shocking and concerning' and told both defendants: 'Without a doubt, these are the most awful offences against animals that I have seen in this court.'
The judge said the pair's 'clearly premeditated' actions would have caused 'immense suffering' to the kittens who were 'vulnerable and unable to escape'.
The court heard members of the public had seen the pair walking on a footpath and holding hands in West Ruislip on the day of the incident. The teenage boy was holding a black carrier bag, which 'was seen to be moving slightly as if something alive was inside it'.
The hearing was told members of the public became concerned when they later saw him and the girl running from the scene, which was described as 'horrific' by one member of the public who warned another to avoid it.
Prosecutor Valerie Benjamin told the court police were alerted to the two 'dismembered' kittens left in a wooded area. Officers found a 'small black kitten hanging from a branch' by a red rope at the scene, she said. 'Its body was completely ripped open and its eyes were bulging out,' she added.
The other animal 'had been cut open and had rope attached to it' when its body was discovered on the ground nearby, she told the hearing.
Knives, blowtorches and scissors, which appeared to have blood on them, were also found at the scene, the hearing was told. The prosecutor described the way in which the animals were killed as 'sadistic'.
Ms Benjamin told the court evidence from the boy's phone showed he had spoken about killing cats and dogs, suggesting a degree of planning for the attack – and had even searched how to kill a human. '[He] questioned how easy it would be to get away with murder, killing homeless people,' she said.
A police officer who had been involved in reviewing the boy's phone detailed what she found on the device from the start of April until his arrest in May this year. She read out to the court a note discovered in his phone, which was written in May after the crime was committed. It stated: 'I really wanted to murder someone, and every day I was researching how to get away with murder. I have got close to satisfying my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats.'
Ms Benjamin told the court the girl had said she had carried out the attack because she was 'interested in biology and had done a dissection at school'.
The court heard the boy may have ADHD and autism, which have yet to be diagnosed, and suffered depression, anxiety, hallucinations and self-harm. The hearing was told the girl had 'vulnerabilities' that were taken into account. Both had no previous convictions.
A lifetime disqualification order from owning or keeping animals was also imposed by the court against both defendants.