bloodrayne
01-27-2004, 09:27 PM
Jail for burglars who beheaded cat
Two burglars who beheaded a cat and cooked a live mouse in a microwave have been jailed for three years each.
Steven Browitt and Andrew Maloney used a blunt axe to behead Greta, a blind 19-year-old tortoiseshell cat, during a break-in in Wigan, Greater Manchester, last August.
They left her severed head on a living room coffee table for owner David Byrne to find when he returned home.
Browitt and Maloney, aged 35 and 26, both from Wigan, killed Mr Byrne's pet mouse Snowy by putting it in the microwave along with some vegetables. The pair, who also ransacked the house, broke windows and smeared food around the kitchen, admitted burglary with intent to cause criminal damage at an earlier hearing.
They were each sentenced to three years imprisonment when they appeared at Bolton Crown Court.
The court was told that Browitt and Maloney had been drinking heavily when they decided to break into Mr Byrne's house, in the Scholes area of Wigan, at 11.45pm on August 11 last year.
The pair had known Mr Byrne for around 18 months but have never explained why they targeted him.
Mr Byrne, 48, who lived alone with only his pet dog, cat and mouse for company, was at a friend's house when the break-in took place. They were accompanied by two teenage girls, but one of the girls left in disgust when one of the men held the cat's severed head aloft.
After leaving Mr Byrne's house, they went to the house where he was sleeping and goaded him. Prosecutor Sharon Amesu said: "Defendant Maloney said to Mr Byrne 'I've chopped your cat's head off'.
Mr Byrne said his pets were his life and a big part of him had been taken away.
Two burglars who beheaded a cat and cooked a live mouse in a microwave have been jailed for three years each.
Steven Browitt and Andrew Maloney used a blunt axe to behead Greta, a blind 19-year-old tortoiseshell cat, during a break-in in Wigan, Greater Manchester, last August.
They left her severed head on a living room coffee table for owner David Byrne to find when he returned home.
Browitt and Maloney, aged 35 and 26, both from Wigan, killed Mr Byrne's pet mouse Snowy by putting it in the microwave along with some vegetables. The pair, who also ransacked the house, broke windows and smeared food around the kitchen, admitted burglary with intent to cause criminal damage at an earlier hearing.
They were each sentenced to three years imprisonment when they appeared at Bolton Crown Court.
The court was told that Browitt and Maloney had been drinking heavily when they decided to break into Mr Byrne's house, in the Scholes area of Wigan, at 11.45pm on August 11 last year.
The pair had known Mr Byrne for around 18 months but have never explained why they targeted him.
Mr Byrne, 48, who lived alone with only his pet dog, cat and mouse for company, was at a friend's house when the break-in took place. They were accompanied by two teenage girls, but one of the girls left in disgust when one of the men held the cat's severed head aloft.
After leaving Mr Byrne's house, they went to the house where he was sleeping and goaded him. Prosecutor Sharon Amesu said: "Defendant Maloney said to Mr Byrne 'I've chopped your cat's head off'.
Mr Byrne said his pets were his life and a big part of him had been taken away.