wombat2u2004
02-05-2007, 06:00 AM
Suspended sentence for cat killer
Diane Hannon said she meant to hurt Paws but not to kill him
A woman who killed her boyfriend's cat by putting it in a washing machine has received a four-month suspended jail sentence.
Diane Hannon, 42, from Old Colwyn, Conwy, admitted causing unnecessary suffering and cruelly ill-treating six-year-old Paws, who was deaf.
Paws suffered a heart attack, severe burns and loss of fur.
Llandudno magistrates heard Hannon, who suffers depression, was cat-sitting for Duncan Carthy when the pair argued.
The prosecution said Hannon and Mr Carthy had rowed about Mr Carthy's ex-wife and children while he was visiting his son in July last year.
The trial, in December last year, heard Mr Carthy thought Hannon was joking when she told him over the phone that she had killed Paws.
Glen Murphy, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said: "Duncan Carthy called Miss Hannon and asked if the cat was all right, and she replied: 'I hate you. No, I've killed it.'
Paws was killed after Hannon rowed with Mr Carthy
"Mr Carthy thought she was joking, but on Sunday at 3.30pm, when he returned to his flat, no one was there and he couldn't find the cat.
"He went into the kitchen and noticed his clothes were on top of the washing machine and found Paws inside the washing machine clearly dead."
Paws' injuries included scalding. He had died from heart failure.
When Mr Carthy phoned Hannon, she laughed and put the phone down, the court heard.
He later found a note she had written on the back of an envelope saying: "I hate you."
When interviewed by police, Hannon admitted that although she had placed the cat in the washing machine to hurt it, she did not know it would die.
Magistrates had delayed the sentencing until Monday after ordering a psychiatric report on Hannon.
Diane Hannon said she meant to hurt Paws but not to kill him
A woman who killed her boyfriend's cat by putting it in a washing machine has received a four-month suspended jail sentence.
Diane Hannon, 42, from Old Colwyn, Conwy, admitted causing unnecessary suffering and cruelly ill-treating six-year-old Paws, who was deaf.
Paws suffered a heart attack, severe burns and loss of fur.
Llandudno magistrates heard Hannon, who suffers depression, was cat-sitting for Duncan Carthy when the pair argued.
The prosecution said Hannon and Mr Carthy had rowed about Mr Carthy's ex-wife and children while he was visiting his son in July last year.
The trial, in December last year, heard Mr Carthy thought Hannon was joking when she told him over the phone that she had killed Paws.
Glen Murphy, prosecuting for the RSPCA, said: "Duncan Carthy called Miss Hannon and asked if the cat was all right, and she replied: 'I hate you. No, I've killed it.'
Paws was killed after Hannon rowed with Mr Carthy
"Mr Carthy thought she was joking, but on Sunday at 3.30pm, when he returned to his flat, no one was there and he couldn't find the cat.
"He went into the kitchen and noticed his clothes were on top of the washing machine and found Paws inside the washing machine clearly dead."
Paws' injuries included scalding. He had died from heart failure.
When Mr Carthy phoned Hannon, she laughed and put the phone down, the court heard.
He later found a note she had written on the back of an envelope saying: "I hate you."
When interviewed by police, Hannon admitted that although she had placed the cat in the washing machine to hurt it, she did not know it would die.
Magistrates had delayed the sentencing until Monday after ordering a psychiatric report on Hannon.