Teenagers who tortured and killed two kittens sentenced

Yahoo

4 hours ago

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'. Police analysis of his phone showed he had 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 to 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.
District judge Hina Rai described the case as 'deeply shocking and concerning', telling the teenagers: 'Without a doubt, these are the most awful offences against animals that I have seen in this court.'
She said their 'clearly premeditated' actions would have caused 'immense suffering' to the 'vulnerable and unable to escape' kittens.
Describing the case as 'barbaric and deeply disturbing', DC Rebecca Rickhuss said the cats were both strays, which the defendants had bought from a woman on Gumtree who was attempting to rehome them.
The court heard members of the public had seen the pair walking on a footpath in West Ruislip after picking up the kittens. The teenage boy was holding a black 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, with what appeared to have blood on them, were also found at the scene, the hearing was told. The prosecutor described how 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.
DC Rickhuss had been involved in reviewing the boy's phone and 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.'
She told reporters outside court after the sentencing hearing: 'Something like this doesn't randomly happen… [It's] very much the case that they got some kind of inspiration from somewhere else.' She cited online groups that are 'encouraging people to go out mutilating kittens and 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'.
Both had no previous convictions.
The court also imposed a lifetime ban on both defendants from owning or keeping animals.
Following sentencing, DC Rickhuss, who led the investigation, described the case as 'deeply distressing'.
She added: 'If you suspect cruelty to animals, please report it. In some cases, it can be an early warning sign of something far more dangerous.'