Former partner will donate '˜evil monster' cat killer's compensation payment to charity

The dead pet’s owner also insists she does not want the compensation he must pay her and that she will donate the £200 to a cancer charity.

A court heard Thomas John Hogarth threw tortoise shell cat Sophie into a bin after launching the attack because she had “stared at him while doing its business on the carpet”.

Hogarth, 63, of Canterbury Way, Jarrow, was yesterday sentenced to 12 weeks’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, as part of his sentence

South Tyneside Magistrates’ Court heard Hogarth was house proud and could not cope with the smell of urine and faeces left by her pet after the couple moved in together.

Commenting afterwards on Hogarth’s sentence, cat lover Ms Holmes, 66, of Prudhoe Grove, Jarrow, said: “I’m pleased that he has been sentenced, though I think a suspended sentence of 12 weeks for what he did is an absolute joke.

“I am pleased he has been dealt with, but it’s not going to bring my cat back.

“I’ve never slept a full night since it happened. You go to sleep, wake up and start thinking about it. I can still see the little cat’s face.

“I think he’s vile. I wouldn’t call him an animal because animals are quite nice. He’s sub-human.

“It was horrendous. He came upstairs and said ‘I’ve killed your cat’ and I didn’t believe him at first. I couldn’t comprehend it.

“He has to pay me £200 compensation, but I’m giving that to Cancer Research UK. I don’t want his money. I couldn’t benefit from losing my cat. Even £200,000 wouldn’t pay for her.

“Sophie was a much-loved pet. She was a huge part of the family, especially for my granddaughter.

“He stamped her to death. There was blood splattered all over the walls. There was so much blood.

“He put his blood-splattered trousers in the laundry basket. The RSPCA said she would have had a horrific death.

“He was a 19 stone man against a four-kilo cat and she had no chance.

“There had been no argument. That’s why I just couldn’t believe it. It seems unbelievable to think about it.

“After he did it, he made himself a cup of tea. When I returned to the house a few days later, there was blood all over the kettle. It was like a massacre.”

Hogarth pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, failing to ensure animal welfare and destroying property on August 23 last year.

He returned to court to be sentenced on Tuesday and was also ordered to complete 30 days’ specified activity and 300 hours of unpaid work.

In addition, he was disqualified from keeping animals for life, told to pay the £200 compensation, £150 costs and a £15 surcharge.

Jason Smith, defending, told magistrates: “I’m not going to sugarcoat this in any form. Thomas knows the situation he is in.

“He is utterly devastated by his actions and reactions.

“He can’t quite believe the way in which he conducted himself.

“He lost his wife a number of years ago. “He served in the army. He’s got on very well with life until now.

“His family persuaded him to go on these dating websites, through which he met the lady with these cats.

Mr Smith said Hogarth snapped when Sophie started “doing its business” in front of him while he was watching TV.

He added: “The cat was in front of him almost staring at him before doing its business on the carpet in front of him.

“He can’t explain why he did what he did. “It had pushed him over the edge and that was that. “He accepts that was wholly wrong and he can’t believe the manner in which he reacted.

“He’s 63 years old and he’s never been in trouble before.”