Man 'angry over football' jailed for killing gran's cat in Surrey

A man whose grandmother’s cat died after he claimed plastic boxes fell on the pet has been jailed for three years.

Kieron Thornby was also banned from keeping all animals for life after a prosecution by the RSPCA, who investigated the cause of death of his relative’s pet at her home in Balmoral Drive in Woking.

The defendant was staying at his grandmother’s property at the time the ginger tabby cat called Teddy Bear died. Thornby was alone with the pet when the cat suffered multiple injuries - including five rib fractures and haemorrhages to the lungs, neck and jaw - and a post-mortem revealed they could not have been caused by boxes falling onto the animal (pictured in a portrait) as the defendant said.

Thornby, 22, of Western Hill, Sunderland, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Teddy Bear by inflicting blunt force trauma under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 and was handed a custodial sentence and a life-time disqualification when he appeared at Guildford Crown Court for sentencing on April 7.

The court was told that Thornby moved into his grandmother’s house in February 2023 and on the evening of Saturday, May 13 the defendant had been left alone in the house with Teddy Bear while he was watching a football match.

The defendant claimed he heard “a number of loud noises and noticed some boxes had fallen over on to the cat who was crying in pain”. He said he picked up the cat, who had blood on his face, but the feline scratched him and he reacted by “dropping the cat on the floor”.

Thornby said he took the cat into the kitchen to wipe the blood, but was bitten by the cat.

Sadly, Teddy Bear later passed away as a result of his injuries and a vet, who examined the cat’s body, said the injuries the pet sustained included five rib fractures, a haemorrhage to the brain and haemorrhages to the lungs, neck and jaw. The cat has also suffered a collapsed lung.

The 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. Thornby says he witnessed Teddy Bear receiving injuries due to a massive, heavy box falling on the cat, but the number and the location of the injuries sustained are not consistent with this.

“The defendant says that after the ‘accident’ the cat was still quite active and capable of biting him. Those head and spinal injuries would therefore have occurred subsequent to the incident involving the falling box and remain unexplained.”

RSPCA Inspector Jo Bowling said that when she later visited the property as part of the investigation she could find only one plastic box containing crafting items.

“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 and contained crafting items, tapestries etc. It wasn’t heavy, I could pick up one end using just one hand. This box was placed on the floor,” said the inspector.

The vet concluded that the cat had suffered physical abuse which resulted in a number of severe blunt force trauma injuries.

“A very high level of suffering will have been experienced by this animal via fear, distress and pain for a period of at least several minutes, possibly longer with eventual collapse and death,” said the vet.

In mitigation, the court heard the defendant had a “traumatic upbringing” and he had shown a “lack of maturity”.

The judge said: “This is an awful offence as you killed a living creature and a cat that was very dear to your grandmother who could have not done any harm to you. You say you did not use a weapon, but 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. The cat may have suffered greatly before he died.”

The defendant was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge of £228.

Speaking after the sentencing, Inspector Bowling said: “Teddy Bear lost his life in the most cruel and unimaginable way possible because of this defendant’s angry rage. The poor cat would have been terrified and his suffering would have been immense. I would like to thank the family of Teddy Bear for their patience and support while I was conducting this investigation.”