Harrow cat killer bailed despite telling police 'I've been doing it since a child and can't stop'

EXCLUSIVE: A SELF-confessed serial cat killer, who has also shown violence to a person, has been bailed ahead of sentence despite telling police he "had been doing it all his life but could not stop."

Police found the 21-year-old naked, except for a pair of trainers, in a park standing over a kitten he had killed and mutilated, Willesden Magistrates' Court heard on Tuesday (September 6).

Officers attended after being called about a naked man in a park wearing just trainers. They found next to him the body of a mutilated kitten. It was lying on its back and its stomach was vertically open with its intestines pulled out and in a length across the grass. Next to it was a paper cup and in it were two kidneys and an eyeball. Prosecuting, Siobhan O’ Shaughnessy, said: "He said to police at the scene that he had bought the kitten and he was very sorry but that he had been doing it since he was a child and could not help it."

Checks by a vet found it was six months old and it had no chip. The injuries were not caused by another animal and had been done by a human.

The man was arrested by police and later detained under the Mental Health Act.

At an earlier hearing at the same court he indicated a guilty plea to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to the animal on July 25 this year.

He also admitted a second charge that on the same date at the London Borough of Harrow he caused unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, namely a cat, by an act, namely disembowelment, removal of kidneys and an eye ball.

Ms O’ Shaughnessy said the offences should only be dealt with at crown court due to his high culpability and the prolonged suffering the animal faced. He will also apply for him to be disqualified from ever owning any animals. He will also face a suspended prison sentence being activated as the offences were committed while he was under an 18-month suspended prison sentence for an earlier assault on a person which was issued by Harrow Crown Court on March 25 this year. The court heard he has significant mental health issues and was living in specialist accommodation at the time. A pre-sentence report on his mental health is being prepared. District Judge Mark Jabbitt bailed him to live at the specialist accommodation with a curfew between 8pm and 8am. He put an interim order on him banning him from owning or transporting any animals. The case was adjourned for sentence at Harrow Crown Court at a later date. A Met Police spokesman said: "We were called to Alexandra Park Harrow at 12:47am on 25 July to reports of a naked man playing with something on the ground."

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"Based on his admission to police and the fact his violence has extended to people and his significant mental health issues, this seems like a case where he should have been remanded into custody or detained in a mental health facility ahead of sentence."

Kitten picture is a stock image and not the animal in question