A MAN has been jailed for 20 weeks for the brutal killing of four kittens he had earlier threatened to harm.

John Stephen Akrill was also banned from keeping animals for life when he pleaded guilty to one allegation under the Animal Welfare Act.

The 47-year-old, from Great Fryup Dale, near Whitby, admitted causing unnecessary suffering to four kittens by killing them in an inhumane and inappropriate manner.

Magistrates at Whitby heard that the RSPCA were called out by the police on August 16 last year.

RSPCA inspector Karen Colman said they had retried the kittens’ bodies from a bin and Akrill told them he had broken the kittens necks by strangling them and hitting them over the head with a hammer to make sure they were dead.

“Blood was found on the paving slabs of the courtyard outside his home, so I assume this was where it happened,” she said.

“He said he did it because they had cat flu, but they were all in good body condition and no evidence of cat flu or any other illness was found either by our vet or in post mortem and he had sent text messages to his ex-partner earlier that day threatening to kill them.”

She added: “This was absolutely not an appropriate or humane way to kill an animal, even if they had been ill.

“This was a cruel act carried out to upset Mr Akrill’s ex-partner. In fact, the kitten she was the most fond of had received the worst of the blunt force trauma.”

The black-and-white kittens were eight weeks old when they were killed and their mother and another cat were removed on veterinary advice, because of concerns for their safety.