Hackney, London: James Neil White

CONVICTED (2013) | James White, born 08/07/1991, formerly from York but as of April 2020 living at Webster House, Boleyn Road, London N16 8LW – burned a hamster to death in a frying pan.

Animal abuser James Neill White pictured outside court
James White, who is originally from York, pictured outside court

Police found the dead Syrian hamster in a frying pan next to a heated oven hob in James White’s flat, but it was unclear whether the animal was dead or alive when it went into the pan.

White, who at the time was studying politics and international relations at the University of York, denied killing the hamster by frying her on February 4, 2013, but admitted animal cruelty.

James Neil White

District judge Roy Anderson heard a post-mortem examination showed the hamster did not die of natural causes, but it was not clear whether she died from being fried or from rough handling minutes before she was put in the pan.

“Quite what happened on that night is still shrouded in a degree of mystery,” he said to White. “You, by your treatment of this small unfortunate rodent, destroyed your good character and earned a criminal conviction.”

Sentencing: 120 hours of unpaid of work in the community; £1,000 costs. Eight-year ban on keeping animals (expired March 2021).

York Press
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