Man who slit his cat's throat with razor blade jailed

A man who slit his cat's throat to cover up her had broken her leg has been jailed for six months.

Adam Alkour, 32, cut the neck of six-year-old black and white cat Darwin at his home before letting her bleed out in the bathroom.

He later text a friend saying: “I killed my cat. Bad craic. Feeling f**king unholy as f**k.”

A court heard Alkour had broken the cat's leg after losing his temper and decided to kill her two days later because a vet might notice he had caused the injury.

He then walked six miles to bury the body before later confessing to a pal what he had done.

The RSPCA were alerted to the death of the cat, which had been in Alkour’s care for around seven months.

Inspector Kirsty Keogh-Laws then uncovered a series of damning text messages which revealed Alkour had killed Darwin by cutting her throat.

He had found a razor in the bathroom and secured the cat in a towel before inflicting her with a 'deliberate injury intending to kill her' and watching her bleed to death.

Alkour, of Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, went on to admit three animal cruelty charges at Newcastle Magistrates' Court.

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He admitted causing unnecessary suffering, failing to provide veterinary care for the broken leg and failing to protect her from pain, suffering, injury or disease.

Alkour was jailed for six months and banned from keeping animals for life at Newcastle Crown Court on Monday.

Sentencing, Recorder Mark McKone KC said: "People who are cruel to animals in a serious way will see a prison sentence."

After the case, RSPCA Inspector Keogh-Laws said: "Mr Alkour told me in the interview that he subjected Darwin to ‘an afternoon and evening of violence’.

In a text discovered by investigators Alkour wrote: "After not being able to get a vet appointment until another 2 days after and I took her life out of pure cowardness that they would know I hurt her."

A vet report concluded: "This suffering and the death of Darwin the cat was both avoidable and unnecessary had Alkour relinquished the care of the cat when they were no longer able to meet her needs.

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"The owner had the awareness of a veterinary practice that had been previously attended which would have been an initial location to seek help.

"The irreversible fatal harm caused to Darwin the cat whose immense suffering could not be reversed removed the opportunity of her being restored to a kind and caring home environment where her needs could have been successfully met."

In mitigation, Alkour said that Darwin was ‘dumped’ on him and that he was suffering with his mental health and struggling to care for himself.

He also claimed that he unsuccessfully tried to rehome Darwin.