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Man who put cat in tumble drier jailed

 

Ben Kendall
Tuesday 13 November 2012 16:37 GMT

A man who put his cat in a tumble drier and posted the footage on YouTube has been jailed.

Alan Staughton, 23, of Saunders Close, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to a cat at an earlier hearing.

Today he was jailed for 56 days by Huntingdon magistrates, the RSPCA said. He was also banned from keeping animals for life.

Staughton told RSPCA inspectors that he thought the incident was funny when first questioned about it.

Vet Helen Dennis told magistrates that the cat, named Princess, would have been severely traumatised by the ordeal and it would have been akin to a form of torture for her.

Princess suffered a broken tooth and a tongue injury in the incident at Staughton's home, the charity said.

Magistrates saw film of the cat being put into the machine as Staughton said it was going for "a tumble".

The machine was turned on with the cat spinning inside for 12 seconds before Staughton opened the door.

The cat was on its back in the bottom of the machine. Staughton then spun it twice more.

The court heard that Staughton suffers from attention deficit disorder.

The cat had belonged to Staughton's partner of four-and-a-half years. The relationship broke down over the incident.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said: "We have now found a loving new home for Princess."

PA

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