Teenager detained for mutilating kittens near Ruislip Golf Course
'Horrific'
Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressingThe boy was given a lifetime ban on keeping or owning animals.Along with a 17-year-old girl, who also cannot be named because of her age, the teenager had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the animals by mutilating and killing them.A member of the public who found the kittens warned another passerby not to go down the footpath because "there is something horrific down there".The two black kittens were found with ropes attached to them and had been cut open. Also discovered at the scene were blowtorches, three knives and a pair of scissors.One kitten was found hanging from a rope and was completely ripped open, with its eyes bulging, the court heard.Alongside the tools, a significant amount of blood and fur were found.The pair also each admitted one count of possession of a knife. The girl has yet to be sentenced.
Sentencing the boy, Judge Rai told him his actions had been "extensively planned" were "clearly premeditated".She told him: "You said sorry in your [police] interview but reports also show that you struggle to show empathy and realise that the kittens would suffer."She added: "It seems you chose the kittens because they have emotion and you would have power over them."Notes on the boy's phone detailed his desire to kill another person.They read: "I really wanted to murder someone. "Every day I was researching how to get away with murder. I have come close. I have killed cats to reduce my urges. I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats."The boy, who may have ADHD and autism which has yet to be diagnosed, had no previous convictions.Additional reporting by PA Media
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Death of girl left alone by fake ID worker was unlawful, jury inquest concludes
The death of a teenage girl, who was left alone at a children's mental health ward by an inexperienced agency worker using fake ID, has been ruled as an unlawful killing by an inquest jury. Ruth Szymankiewicz was being treated for an eating disorder at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire and had been placed under strict one-to-one observation when on February 12 2022, she was left on her own by the member of staff responsible for watching her. The 14-year-old was able to shut herself in her bedroom at the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit – also known as Thames ward – where she self-harmed. She died two days later at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. On Thursday, an inquest jury sitting at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield returned a conclusion of unlawful killing. 'Ruth was not prevented from accessing the harmful material which could be used to self-harm,' the jury foreman told the hearing. 'Ruth's care was insufficient to allow for discharge.' The foreman added Ms Szymankiewicz's parents were not given 'adequate information' about her care on the ward. Jurors could be seen crying as they recorded their conclusion, as well as the coroner and members of the family. The agency worker responsible for watching Ms Szymankiewicz – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had never worked in a psychiatric hospital environment before coming to Huntercombe on February 12 2022 for his first shift. A police investigation later found he was hired by the Platinum agency – which supplied staff for Huntercombe Hospital – under a false name. Mr Acheampong never returned to work at the hospital following the incident and fled the UK for Ghana. The court heard the ward was missing at least half of its staff on the day Ms Szymankiewicz, who had self harmed several times in the past, was left unsupervised. Mr Acheampong was originally working on a different ward, but was asked to join the team on Thames ward because they were so short-staffed nurses could not go on breaks, jurors were previously told. A risk management form known as a 'Datix incident' had been filed on the day by Michelle Hancey – a support worker with 18 years' experience at Huntercombe – who raised concerns the Thames ward team would 'fail to monitor patients on prescribed special observation because of staff shortage'. During the inquest, jurors were shown CCTV footage of the moment Mr Acheampong left Ms Szymankiewicz unsupervised while she sat in the ward's lounge watching TV, enabling her to leave the room. She had been placed on the 'level three observation' plan following earlier incidents of self-harm – meaning she had to be kept within eyesight at all times. In the footage, Mr Acheampong can be seen leaving the room repeatedly – at first only for seconds at a time, then for two minutes – prompting the teenager to walk up to the door and look into the lobby, seemingly waiting for the opportunity to leave the room. She was last captured on CCTV walking out of the ward's day room 'completely on her own' before going straight to her bedroom and closing the door behind her, coroner Ian Wade KC told the inquest. Around 15 minutes passed before a nurse discovered the teenage girl and raised the alarm. Huntercombe Hospital had been inspected twice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) prior to the incident, the inquest previously heard. It was rated as 'overall inadequate' in a CQC report dated February 2021. Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ms Szymankiewicz's death, has since closed the facility.
The Independent
4 minutes ago
- The Independent
Woman thought volunteer officer could ‘kill' her during alleged sexual assault
A young woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by a volunteer Metropolitan Police officer told a court she thought he could 'kill' her. Amersham Law Courts heard that James Bubb, who now identifies as a woman named Gwyn Samuels, assaulted the alleged victim multiple times while she was between the ages of 12 and 18. The trial heard they met on video chat site Omegle in 2018, when the complainant was 12 years old and the defendant was about 21, before meeting in person for the first time at a Christian festival a few months later. On Thursday, the complainant said she was 18 when Bubb assaulted her at the defendant's studio flat in Chesham. The defendant is charged with assault by penetration in relation to the complainant, relating to the alleged assault in 2024. Of this alleged assault, prosecutor Richard Milne asked: 'You said the word that he had 'raped' you, can you explain what aspects of the sexual activity between you were in your mind rape and why?' The complainant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, replied: 'The fact that I didn't consent, I couldn't consent with the gag in my mouth, I didn't feel there was any way to consent that.' She went on to say that she froze during the alleged attack which she thought could 'ruin my chance of fertility for life, and potentially kill me'. The complainant said she had told the defendant she was five years older when they first started speaking online, had sent them photos of herself wearing her school uniform but was 'scared' they would reject her if she revealed her true age. The alleged victim's mother told the court that she could often hear a 'male voice' coming from her child's bedroom at night when the complainant was about 11 to 12. She clarified that she thought this voice belonged to 'a man'. The trial previously heard that Bubb allegedly sexually assaulted the complainant on Shepherd's Bush Green while she was visiting London with her parents to celebrate her forthcoming 13th birthday. Of this trip, her mother told jurors that her child had 'disappeared' for a period while the family were in a shopping centre buying her birthday presents, and that the complainant's father said he thought she had 'gone to meet a friend'. 'She didn't come back, we were meant to board the train to go home and I'd waited, we'd waited for half an hour, maybe an hour, and I began to get really panicked,' she said. After the child returned, her mother said she seemed 'very subdued' on their journey home and did not tell her about the alleged assault until 'much later on'. The defendant, wearing a white shirt and black cardigan, dabbed their eyes and appeared to be crying at points during the hearing. The 27-year-old has denied one count of rape in relation to one complainant, and two counts of rape, two counts of sexual activity with a child, one count of assault of a child under 13 by penetration, one count of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration in relation to the other complainant. A not guilty verdict on one of the rape charges in relation to the second complainant was returned on Wednesday after the prosecution offered no evidence. All charges are alleged to have taken place between January 1 2018 and April 2 2024. The defendant, of High Street, Chesham, Buckinghamshire, denies all charges. The trial continues.
BBC News
4 minutes ago
- BBC News
Tributes to 'unwavering' Hillsbrough campaigner
Tributes have been paid after the death of a father who fought with "compassion, determination and strength" for justice after his son died in the Hillsborough Devonside, who has died at the age of 78, became a prominent voice in the campaign after his son Christopher was among the 97 Liverpool fans killed as a result of the crush in 1989. He went ever day for two years to the victims' inquests, which ended in 2016 by concluding they had been unlawfully Hennessy, whose father died at Hillsborough, was close friends with Barry and said: "The only peaceful thing about Barry's death is knowing that he is reunited with Christopher now." "His determination and his strength and the love for his son just never wavered," she Devonside went the match with his 18-year-old son on 15 April 1989 and they had tickets for different parts of the stood on the Leppings Lane terraces while Mr Devonside sat in the North Stand, where he watched as the tragedy later said he would regret letting his son go to the match for the rest of his life. At the Hillsborough inquests he read a statement about his son, written by Christopher's mother Brook from Broudie Jackson Canter solicitors, who represented Mr Devonside at the Hillsborough Inquests said Mr Devonside will be remembered as a "compassionate" man who was there for everyone."He attended every day of the two years of the inquests," she said."He was so passionate in the fight and not only about his son Christopher and not just about the 97, but about all the survivors who also suffered and also the fans who were lied about and blamed.""When you needed comedy relief he was there, when you needed someone to talk to he was there to have a quiet word.""He will be remembered by many people for the kind-hearted, passionate person that he was." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
