A 17-year-old boy has been detained for the ‘sadistic’ torture and killing of two kittens which were found cut open in a park in north-west London.
There was no reaction from the teenager as he was handed his 12-month detention and training order at London’s Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court.
District judge Hina Rai told the youngster the killings were ‘without a doubt the most awful offences against animals I have seen in this court’.
A small black kitten which was found in a wooded area near Ickenhom Road hanging from a red rope and was completely ripped open and with its eyes bulging out, the court heard.
The other kitten was on the ground with ropes attached.
Both kittens were dead and there were pieces of flesh and fur which appeared to be burned off them.
Knives, blowtorches and scissors were also found at the scene.
A member of the public who found the mutilated kittens on May 3rd warned another passerby not to go down the footpath because ‘there is something horrific down there’.
Two teenagers have admitted torturing a pair of kittens to death. They are pictured on CCTV running away from the scene of the attack
Earlier the pair were seen carrying a black bag before the kittens were found mutilated
The boy, along with a 17-year-old girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had previously pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to the protected animals.
The pair also each admitted one count of possession of a knife at Ruislip Golf Course.
The girl has yet to be sentenced.
Earlier a passerby had seen the boy holding a black animal carrier with netting at the end which was ‘moving slightly as if something live was inside it’.
In sentencing the judge told the boy that his actions were ‘extensively planned’ and ‘clearly premeditated’.
Judge Hina Raijudge added: ‘You said sorry in your (police) interview but reports also show that you struggle to show empathy and realise that the kittens would suffer.
‘It seems you chose the kittens because they have emotion and you would have power over them.’
Notes found on the boy’s phone detailed his desire to murder people too.
He had previously written: ‘I really wanted to murder someone.
‘Every day I was researching how to get away with murder.
‘I have come close. I have killed cats to reduce my urges.
‘I have skinned, strangled and stabbed cats.’
Prior to this offence, the boy – who has reportedly suffered with depression, anxiety, hallucinations and self-harm – had no previous convictions.
Earlier prosecutor Valerie Benjamin told the court the boy’s actions ‘showed a degree of planning in terms of looking for animals and researching in terms of killing animals and his desire to go on to killing humans and how it would be to get away with murder and killing a homeless person’.
The horrific scenes were not a ‘spur of the moment’ event but involved planning in ‘finding the animals, taking them to a public place and killing them in such a sadistic manner’.
