A woman, April Hawes, 36, admitted to picking up her neighbour’s cats in her garden and throwing them back into her neighbour’s home. Clearly she had become annoyed over time about the cats “trespassing” of her property. She was videoed on her neighbour’s security camera.
Hawes said that she was surprised how far she had thrown them. One cat was thrown around 9 meters. Apparently, Hawes knew that she was being filmed on security cameras. In fact she screamed at the camera hoping that her neighbour could see her. Clearly she had no idea that she was committing a crime.
In an interview (perhaps with the police) she had said that she did not wish to cause harm and was remorseful. She didn’t intend to throw the cats that far. The cats suffered soft tissue damage but did not require veterinary treatment. The cats’ owner was not seeking compensation.
In defence, in court, Hawes’ lawyer said that she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. It was said that her neighbour’s cats were spraying on her bins and that she had asked the local authority to stop the animals coming into her home but they had done nothing.
Hawes was forced to leave a window open to allow her cats to come and go at her property. These were her mitigating circumstances. She was convicted of animal cruelty (I presume) although this isn’t stated in the story on the Eastern Daily Press website and sentenced to a 12-month community order with 30 days’ rehabilitation activity. In addition she was ordered to pay a £85 in costs and a victim surcharge of £85.
Place: Dereham, Norfolk, England.
UPDATE: SEE THE VIDEO