#MostEvil | Craig John Mills, born 20/01/1994, previously of Lochgelly but with a recent (2020) address of Maitland Street, Dunfermline, Fife KY12 8AF – bit his pet cat hard on the head, struck her several times and threw her against a wall, finally killing her

Mills was secretly filmed violently beating his two-year-old pet cat Pippa before biting down on her head.

The disturbing footage, which was uploaded to social media, showed Mills gripping Pippa and striking her hard on her body with his hand at his home in Fife.

After the ninth blow, he can be heard screaming at the cat: ‘Who are you hissing at?’

He then forces the front half of Pippa’s head into his mouth and bites down. The cat desperately fights to spring clear, leaving Mills with an injury to the side of his face.

A court heard that Mills had had been diagnosed with an ‘unstable personality disorder’.

His defending lawyer said Mills had addictions to alcohol and cannabis, and that his childhood had been ‘unsettled at best and tragic at worst’.

Sheriff Craig McSherry called the abuse a ‘disgraceful act of cruelty towards a young animal’.

He added that he would have imposed the maximum 12-month sentence, but Mills’ guilty plea forced him to reduce it to eight months.

An additional six months were added to his sentence for further charges, bringing his total to 14 months.

Harry Huyton, director of animal protection charity OneKind, praised the custodial sentence, but said he was disappointed Mills hadn’t been banned from keeping animals.

‘This is a horrific case of prolonged violence against a family pet which we hoped would have resulted in a lifetime ban on keeping animals,’ he said.

‘The fact the judge handed down the maximum jail sentence available to him reflects the severity of the case so we are deeply disappointed the court didn’t see fit to impose a lifetime ban, or any length of ban, on keeping pets.

‘While Mr Mills will serve time in prison, a lack of ban in our view is an overly lenient sentence for this level of abuse.

‘Given the level of violence involved in this case it seems wholly inappropriate that Craig Mills should be free to own pets again in the future and this is a huge concern to us given the threat he poses to animals.’

Sentence: jailed for 14 months; NO BAN

Metro
Courier