An unnamed woman was punched in the face by a man, Carl Nalder, she thought had harmed her cat. The man was her neighbour and had formerly been a companion with whom she had lived.
On April 22, the woman heard her cat scream. She believed that Mr Nalder was harming her cat. She went around to his apartment with an “implement” and scratched some marks on the door, as I understand it. The reporting is sketchy on this story.
At this stage, Nalder, opened the front door to his apartment and punched her in the face, twice. He fractured her cheekbone. The police were called and arrested Nalder.
It is said that the woman suffers from mental health problems or had done in the past. It is also said that she had had a drink at the time. In Nalder’s defence it was claimed in court that he was acting in self defence.
Notwithstanding the defence, the judge found Mr Nalder guilty and he was sentenced to an 18 month community order together with rehabilitation activity days and he described the offence as ‘nasty’.
“You acted badly towards her cat. She had a drink and she presented herself at your door and you ended up thumping her and fractured a bone in her face.”-Judge Roger Thomas QC
The quote from the judge is interesting to me in that he appears to have said that Nalder had indeed caused the woman’s cat to scream. We don’t know how or why.
Comment: I am speculating, of course, but there may have been history between the two with respect to the woman’s cat when they lived together. This is why, I suspect, she made the assumption that her cat’s screams was due to the cat being ill-treated by Nalder. If that is the case then her behaviour is excusable and certainly the behaviour of Nalder is inexcusable.
This took place on Robert Street, Grimsby, UK. It’s another little story, a vignette of human life, the centre of which is a domestic cat. It’s a reminder that cats can be the innocent receptacles of animosity between former partners.
The report online by Grimsby Live does not tell us what happened to the cat. This is very typical. There needs to be more focus on cats in disputes of this nature.
