A cat was brutally assaulted by it’s owner before he launched it out of his first floor flat where it died, a court has heard.
Adrian Williams, killed the cat because it had been urinating all over his flat, causing him to ‘lose his temper’ before he carried out the vicious attack.
A father who was with his young son witnessed the cat being thrown out of the window before it forcefully landed on a flat roof but it tumbled to the side before clinging to the building ‘like a scene from the Lion King’.
The distressed dad then saw the cat hit the ground before it started writhing in agony.
32-year-old Williams was found by police in his flat smoking cannabis when they arrived along with the cat which had been left to die in the shower.
Willams, from Parsons Hill in King's Norton, denied two animal welfare offences but was found guilty in his absence at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court today, Monday, February 7.
He had been prosecuted by the RSPCA, according to Birmingham Live.
District Judge John Bristow concluded Williams had inflicted blunt force trauma to the cat’s head, rendering it unconscious, before he hurled it outside.
Police were called to the scene, outside Price Cutter, at around 1.30pm on June 30, 2020.
PC Gemma Wilkinson told the court she could smell cannabis as soon as she entered Williams’ flat. She said the defendant admitting throwing the cat out of the window and then saw it lying motionless in the shower cubicle.
Her body-worn camera captured Williams say: “Well basically the cat today has been going everywhere, p***ing everywhere and I lost my temper with him. I have gone to put him out the window and I threw him out the window.”
Witness Dayle Synott had just arrived at the shops with his young son when the incident took place.
He said: “I came around the corner and heard like a thud. I looked up and saw the cat tumble. There’s a flat roof six foot in length above. The cat tumbled on it and gripped on to the ledge trying to stay on the roof.
“There was too much force which took it straight over the ledge. It hit the ground and started fitting. At this point I picked up my son to shield him from it.”
Mr Synott said everything happened in a matter of seconds adding: “It fell on the ledge and started really squealing. For lack of a better term it looked like the scene in the Lion King, it was clinging on for dear life.”
Describing what happened next, he said: “The man came out. He had no remorse on his face at all. Not a lick of emotion. I was shouting whoever lives up there come outside and get this cat now.
“I was sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe it. My son should never have had to see that.”
CCTV fitted above the shop captured the cat falling to the ground and writhing on the pavement. A number of members of the public could be seen approaching the animal before Williams appeared and scooped it up.
Dr Sean Taylor, an expert veterinary witness, said the cat had an injury to the left side of its face caused by blunt force trauma which was inconsistent with a fall.
He concluded it must have been unconscious when it was tossed out of the window because it did not right itself in the air. Dr Taylor said: “It’s a reflex response that’s triggered by sight and balance. If it is off-balance it will try to right itself.
“Cats are the only animals in the world that sense motion that’s abnormal and right themselves very quickly, which is why a cat never falls without landing on its feet.”
He said the cat appearing to grip itself on the shop roof was likely circumstantial.
Williams gave a ‘no comment’ interview after being arrested.
Judge Bristow said: “Based on the evidence I have heard I am sure Adrian Williams is guilty of both offences.”
At the start of the hearing the court was told Williams had instructed his solicitors he would not be able to attend the trial due to a physical disability.
However, Judge Bristow ruled it was in the ‘interest of justice’ to proceed in his absence in light of the fact he had not provided any medical evidence of his condition.
The court also heard Williams had mental health issues but no further detail was provided. He was not legally represented during the trial.
Williams will be sentenced at a later date.
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