Teen is spared jail over ‘Mice And Men’ cat killing
ATEENAGER who battered a kitten and left it in agonising pain before it died has been spared jail.
Gary Chadwick, 19, killed Smokey, a tiny grey and white cat, after he hit her so hard at his Skelmersdale home that he caused multiple fractures, kidney damage and significant bruising.
A carer for Chadwick, who has multiple mental health conditions, discovered the kitten after she saw it struggling to use its front legs and heard it wailing in pain before it died.
She said that Chadwick was acting “shifty” and claiming that the cat always made those noises when it used the litter tray.
The carer left the house and called the RSPCA to report Chadwick for animal cruelty.
Chadwick pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, January 3.
He was given a two-year conditional discharge and banned from keeping animals for 10 years.
The kitten probably suffered for “many hours” according to the vet who carried out the post mortem examination.
The court heard that when interviewed Chadwick claimed that he had only ever slapped Smokey once during her short life but said he never threw or kicked the kitten.
District Judge Wendy Lloyd said the case was “reminiscent of Lennie in Of Mice And Men”.
In the John Steinbeck novel, Lennie is a mentally disabled character who accidentally kills a puppy while stroking it later doing the same to a woman.
The court heard how Chadwick needed daily visits from carers because he was “not capable of running his own life”.
Chadwick, who has autism, had also previously been on medication for schizophrenia and had also had a recent diagnosis of psychosis after a hospital visit, for which he is waiting for treatment, the court was told.
David Lloyd, defending, told Liverpool Magistrates’ Court: “I don’t think he intended to deliberately hurt the kitten.”
He added: “He has asked me to inform the court, to say he was fond of the kitten.”
Insp Joanne McDonald said: “We will never know the exact details of how the kitten came to have these injuries but from what the expert witnesses told the court it must have been terrible. Smokey was only 20 weeks old and the suffering she must have endured after the attack must have been terrible.”