Cat-kick football star fined half a day’s pay
PREMIER League footballer Kurt Zouma was spared jail and fined just half a day’s wages yesterday for volleying his cat across a kitchen.
The 27-year-old West Ham player sparked outrage after drop-kicking his pet in front of his seven-year-old son.
He was filmed by his brother Yoan, 24, who could be heard laughing in the background in the clip posted on social media.
The French international also got his son to hold one of his two Bengal cats as he slapped it on the head and chased it around the house with a shoe shouting: ‘I swear, I’ll kill it.’
When the video emerged the defender was stripped of his sponsorship deal with Adidas and fined £250,000 – two weeks’ wages – by his club.
Animal rights activists waited for him outside the court yesterday including one person dressed in a cat costume.
Zouma had pleaded guilty to two charges of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal while his brother admitted aiding and abetting the unnecessary suffering of a protected animal. District Judge Susan Holdham described the actions from February 6 as ‘disgraceful and reprehensible’. But she decided to hand him a community punishment instead of a possible 12month jail sentence, ordering him to pay just £8,887 in costs and a £95 victim surcharge.
The sum represents just half a day’s wages for him.
The judge said: ‘You gratuitously kicked and slapped the animal for your own amusement. That cat looked to you to provide its needs.
‘You did not, but caused unnecessary suffering. Both of you took part in this disgraceful and reprehensible incident.’ The defender showed no emotion as he was ordered to carry out 180 hours of community service at Thames Magistrates’ Court.
His brother, who is a footballer for Dagenham and Redbridge, was sentenced to 140 hours of community work and both were banned from owning cats for five years. The footage emerged after Yoan posted it on Snapcat hoping to impress a girl he was due to go on a date with.
Disgusted, she alerted the authorities which led to a RSPCA prosecution. Prosecutor Hazel Stevens said: ‘The matter came to light when a young lady who had been chatting to Yoan Zouma for a couple of weeks was messaging him on February 6 to arrange a date that evening.
‘Video images uploaded to social media were sent on Snapchat. The lady was horrified at what was taking place, even more so as Yoan Zouma appeared to find the events funny.’
The abuse was apparently sparked by damage to furniture which was blamed on the pets. The court heard the cats were taken by the RSPCA, had since been medically assessed and were healthy, although a vet said they would have suffered soft tissue damage and trauma at the time.
Despite their convictions, both footballers are now free to continue with their careers.