CONVICTED (2011) | Andrea Louise Impey (aka Andrea Brown), born 25/02/1981, of 38 Nicholson Way, Cambridge CB4 2RR – left her cats to die a “slow, lingering death” while she went on holiday because she no longer wanted the “burden” of caring for them.

The court heard that Impey deliberately withdrew all food and water from pet cats Tigger and Fluffy until they died. A post-mortem examination revealed that they each weighed just over 2kg each and had very prominent spines, ribs and pelvic bones. They also had empty stomachs and intestines, and were infested with fleas.

Impey was caught by the RSPCA as she tried to dispose of the two emaciated animals in a bin bag outside her then home in Ekin Road, Cambridge. She had found them curled up together, dead, under a table in her lounge.

Impey said she had the cats from 2004 when they were kittens but had been unable to afford to keep them so she left them to die while she and her boyfriend went to Wales.

When Impey was asked by the RSPCA in an interview why she had not asked for help in looking after the cats, she replied: “Stubbornness”.

She had also previously admitted that she had hoped the animals would die so she would not be burdened with them anymore.

RSPCA inspector Chris Nice, who found the animals, said they experienced “extreme suffering”.

Mitigating for Impey Jim Dignan said his client was remorseful, adding that she had “suffered as a result of this prosecution. This case was reported in the local and national press and there has been a backlash, including anonymous letters through her door, Facebook communication and abuse from people she knows.”

In response to the sentencing, RSPCA Inspector Nice said: “It was her intention, and frankly a shameful one, that these animals should die. Once more a person’s failure to take responsibility for their animals has resulted in extreme suffering.

“I hope that the disqualification will mean that she does not come to our attention again. However, a longer period would have made this more certain.”

Sentencing: 18-month community order, costs of £200; five-year ban on keeping animals (expired 2016).

Express