CONVICTED (2024) | Richard Collier, born c. 1994, of Meadow Close, Woodley, Stockport SK6 1QZ – hurled a cat through the air and onto the floor, causing fatal injuries.
Angry after the family cat, Bella, hissed at him, Collier said he launched her upwards while she was in her bed with her landing on the floor. He then picked her up but Bella had a seizure and died in his arms.
In a basis of plea document Collier stated: “I was in the living room with my partner and children. Bella [the cat] was on the back of the sofa near my partner. She grabbed it and threw her to the floor and it ran into the soft cat tent.
“Bella hissed at me, I don’t know why but I threw it up into the air and she landed on the floor. I thought it would just get a shock. It had a seizure and died in my arms.”
Collier said he was ‘very upset and sorry’, claiming he didn’t mean to hurt the cat. He said he had been diagnosed with ‘intermittent explosive disorder’.
In a statement, his former partner described Collier’s behaviour as ‘disgusting’.
Reading her statement to the court, prosecutor Ewan Cooper said: “It’s not normal to behave in this way, it is not normal for kids to see that and they’ll be affected by it.
“It’s not normal to go from sitting as a family to killing an innocent cat by smacking it against the floor.”
Mitigating, Saul Komish said Collier ‘lost his temper’, adding: “He accepted that he lost his temper as the cat went inside and threw the cat bed up into the air causing it to have a seizure.
“It was the family cat, they had it for six years, he was close to the cat. He is clearly remorseful.”
Mr Komish said Collier had no intention of injuring the cat, but the consequences of his actions were ‘clearly foreseeable’. He added that he has had no contact with his partner or children since the attack.
“He would say it was not a deliberate attempt to cause injury, but it was a momentary lapse in judgement,” the solicitor added.
Sentencing | 12-week sentence, suspended for 12 months; 100 hours of unpaid work and 20 days of rehab; £239 court costs. No mention of a ban.
Word fail me ..he is evil 😈