CONVICTED (2023) | Pamela Mattinson, born c. 1974, of 1 Alston Street, Great Lever, Bolton BL3 3DQ – dumped her pet cat in a wheelie bin and tried to stone her to death with a large brick.
Pamela ‘Pammy’ Mattinson was caught on camera repeatedly and forcefully hurling a large brick into her neighbour’s wheelie bin in an attempt to kill the young unnamed female cat, who was trapped inside a plastic bag. When the neighbour confronted Mattinson she initially fled the scene but returned a short time later, pulled the kitten out of the plastic bag and told him: “Why is my cat in your bin?” before threatening to smash his windows.
Police arrested Mattinson as she was carrying the cat in her arms to a local vet.
The terrified animal was said to be distressed, with injured hind legs and heavy bleeding from one of her paws.
The kitten has since made a miraculous recovery and is now living with new owners.
When quizzed, Mattinson claimed she had accidentally injured the kitten whilst trying to frighten off a larger cat that had been harassing her pet.
She claimed she had been attempting to put the kitten ”out of its misery” but also confessed she had been drinking vodka in the run up to the incident.
At Bolton Crown Court Mattinson admitted causing unnecessary suffering and using threatening behaviour.
Prosecutor Edmund Potts set out the events of March 2, 2023, to the court. He said that the neighbour investigated after hearing a loud banging noise from the rear window of his property and the screams of what sounded like an animal.
Mr Potts said the neighbour “went to the back window to see the defendant standing by his bin.
“She was picking up what looked like a large brick and throwing it with two hands down into the bin. He recorded the defendant repeat this action four times.
“The neighbour then opened the back door to his garden and asked what she was doing but in response, the defendant ran back to her own garden next door.
“The neighbour called the police but a short time after the defendant returned and pulled her cat out black bin bag at the bottom of the bin saying: ‘Why is my cat in your bin?'”
“She then threatened to put his windows in before leaving with the cat in her hands and walking towards a local vet. She was later detained by the police nearby. A PC noticed the cat was frightened and seized it from her.”
The cat needed medical treatment for four days following the incident and was unable to put weight onto her back legs at first.
Mattinson was arrested and admitted to committing the offences in an interview conducted later that same day.
The court heard she had racked up 13 previous offences, including for aggression and domestic abuse – but none for animal cruelty.
In mitigation, Colin Buckle said she struggled with her alcoholism and her mental health.
He suggested she was trying to kill the cat “to put it out of its misery” after she injured it by accident while trying to protect it from another cat.
Addressing Judge Nicholas Clarke QC, Mr Buckle said: “This is a one-off.
“Although it is unpleasant you are sentencing someone who is vulnerable.”
Judge Clarke described Mattinson as “sadistic” but he accepted the mitigation, and he acknowledged the prisons are overcrowded as it stands.
Sentencing, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC told Mattinson: “As a judge I have to deal with many incidents of people who are cruel or neglectful to animals. In this particular case you were not merely cruel or neglectful, you were deliberately trying to kill that cat. The footage taken by the other party in the case shows a most despicable crime.
“It is quite sadistic to place the cat in the bin and then target it with such forceful blows. Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that no further damage befell that poor creature. This particular animal got off lightly, although it was extraordinarily frightened.”
Sentencing | eight months in jail, suspended for two years; 20 rehabilitation activity days; 180 hours of unpaid work. She was also referred to the Women’s Problem-Solving Court. Banned from keeping animals for ten years.
