Footballer Kurt Zouma has been sentenced to 180 of unpaid community service, ordered to pay costs of £8,887 and banned from keeping cats for five years after pleading guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat at Thames Magistrates’ Court today (June 1) in London.
The verdict came from district judge Susan Holdham, who described the incident as "disgraceful and reprehensible", adding: "You kicked and slapped either the same cat or both of them – that cat looked to you to care for its needs. On that date in February, you didn’t provide for its needs but caused unnecessary suffering for your own amusement."
Last week at Thames Magistrates’ Court, the Premier League defender, 27, admitted two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal by kicking it in the abdomen and slapping it on the head in contravention of section 4 subsection 1 of the Animal Welfare Act 2006. The incident was captured on camera at the time by Zouma's brother, Yoan, who posted it onto his Snapchat account in February.
