Wolverhampton teenager jailed after fracturing kitten's skull

Archie Spencer's kitten Wolfie finally had to be put to sleep when he was taken to the vets with the skull injury.

The injuries were so severe that the RSCPA was alerted and Spencer was prosecuted.

The 19-year-old, of Goodwood Drive, Wolverhampton, pleaded guilty to two animal welfare offences when he appeared at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court. He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to the cat.

His partner Rebecca Guy, 19, of the same address, pleaded guilty to one animal welfare offence of failing to protect the cat from pain and suffering, and was given an eight-week jail term suspended for a year.

The court heard how between January 25 and March 28 the couple’s ginger kitten called Wolfie suffered numerous injuries while living in a flat with them at Upper Villiers Street in Wolverhampton.

Guy first took the kitten to a vets with a head injury. Weeks later he had five broken ribs and on the third occasion,on March 28, he had a horrific skull fracture that went from one side of his head to the other.

The final injury was so serious the vet decided the kindest thing was to put the four-month old to sleep and, believing the injuries had been caused deliberately, the RSPCA was alerted.

Inspector Kate Parker, who investigated, said: “The pair had always denied harming the cat, however in court Spencer took responsibility for the injuries to Wolfie – although we will never know what actually happened.

“What we do know is on three occasions Guy took the cat to the vets with serious injuries, each time claiming they were accidental.

“On the third and final occasion the cat was clearly badly injured. The vet took some video showing poor Wolfie who looks barely alive and when she touched him he reacts, which demonstrates he would have felt pain.

“That is when the decision was made to end his suffering and later an X-ray revealed his horrific skull fracture.

“Poor Wolfie was only four months old and in that short life enjoyed so much suffering and pain - it is horrendous to think what he went through. In the end he was barely alive and breathing in his own blood, it was truly awful.

“In over four years as an inspector this case has been one of the most sickening to investigate, and it saddens me that we will never know the full facts on what Spencer inflicted on Wolfie, but I am grateful to the courts for their sentencing.

"The life time ban given to Spencer will hopefully mean he can never inflict such suffering on another animal.”

Expert witness vet David Martin concluded that the force that must have been used by Spencer on the third and subsequent fatal attack could be likened to that seen on a road traffic collision.

Guy was also banned from keeping animals for life with Spencer banned from keeping them for 10 years and both were ordered to pay £375 costs and a £150 victim surcharge.