A ‘sadistic’ teenage yob who ‘tortured’ a cat by swinging it around using a noose and repeatedly smashing it into a wall has avoided prison.
Henry Newey, 18, left ginger tabby cat Marshall with ‘suspected PTSD’ after violently dragging the pet with a rope around its neck before swinging it aggressively against a brick wall.
The thug was sentenced to 18 weeks imprisonment suspended for two months after ring doorbell footage captured the vicious attack.
He admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal and was also banned from owning a pet for five years.
Owner Sarah Keeling, a hospital worker who was eight months pregnant at the time, believed the ‘sociable’ and ‘loving’ cat was dead after being shown the footage by a neighbour.
She said the cat had not got justice after Newey avoided a prison sentence.
The pet survived and ran away before finally returning home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, hours after the attack at 6am on July 17.
Marshall was taken to a vet and was given painkillers for bruising and swelling but escaped without any broken bones.
A ‘sadistic’ teenage yob who ‘tortured’ a cat by swinging it around using a noose and repeatedly smashing it into a wall has avoided prison
‘It is torture,’ Prosecutor David Fosler told Basingstoke Magistrates Court, while one woman in the public gallery looked away from the screens it was played on with tears in her eyes.
Newey, wearing a white shirt and tie, showed no emotion in the dock while watching the footage of his heinous attack.
The teenager, who had one youth caution for common assault on his record and had experienced a ‘traumatic past’, claimed to have been attacked by the cat first.
He told the court that the cat bit him. Marina Philips, in defence, said he felt ‘incredibly ashamed’.
District Judge Stephen Apted said there was evidence of ‘sadistic’ and ‘deeply troubling behaviour’.
‘I don’t accept your explanation that this cat had bitten you, and you reacted in the way we have seen,’ he added.
‘I find that account to be implausible.’
However, he spared the teenager prison, adding: ‘Given you have not previously had the benefit of any work with the probation service, and you’re still a very young man, I’m satisfied I’m able to suspend the sentence of imprisonment.’
Henry Newey, 18, left ginger tabby cat Marshall with ‘suspected PTSD’ after violently dragging the pet with a rope around its neck before swinging it aggressively against a brick wall
In a victim statement, Ms Keeling said: ‘On the morning concerned, our neighbour approached me and showed me the video of the incident.
‘I was shocked and angry, believing Marshall was dead.’
She said her eight-year-old daughter cried while Marshall was missing.
Ms Keeling continued: ‘I didn’t sleep that night because I was waiting for him to come home.
‘When Marshall did eventually return home, he had the rope around his neck and couldn’t breathe.
‘I went into panic mode because I couldn’t undo the knot.
‘It was terrifying, his tongue was blue, I thought he was going to die in my arms.’
Ms Keeling took the cat to a vet after the attack, where he was given painkillers for bruising and swelling.
She told the court that Marshall used to be a ‘sociable, loving’ cat, but now he’s ‘incredibly scared’ and jumps whenever the family walks past him.
‘He has suspected PTSD,’ Ms Keeling said.
She said her daughter used to be comforted by stroking Marshall when she woke up at night, but the cat no longer goes into her room.
Marshall, who now has to take anti-anxiety medication, has also gained weight because he doesn’t go outside any more.
Marshall (pictured) survived and ran away before finally returning home in Basingstoke, Hampshire, hours after the attack at 6am on July 17
After Newey’s sentencing, Ms Keeling said: ‘[Marshall] is a lovely boy. Who has never attacked or bitten anyone.
‘Maybe he got bit when Marshall got scared because he was having rope tied around this throat.
‘I’m disappointed he avoided prison just because of his age and his upbringing.
‘Loads of people have bad things happen to them [but that] doesn’t give them the right to hurt anyone or an animal.
‘We were prepared for a no prison sentence.
‘I do not feel Marshall has been given justice.’
As part of his sentence, Newey has to pay the family compensation of £658, a victim surcharge of £154 and prosecution costs of £85.
He must also complete 25 sessions of rehabilitation activity requirements and 150 hours of unpaid work.
