CONVICTED (2022) | April Louise Thomas, born 30 April 1994, of Thornhill Parade, Ballyclare BT39 9RE- filmed herself hitting and throttling a cat. Mother-of-two April Thomas, who has links to Larne and Croydon, pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to a cat. In May 2021 Belfast City Council received a complaint about an act of animal cruelty at Thomas’s home. A video clip sent with the complaint showed Thomas grab a white cat from a crate and hold it up by the neck. In the footage she appeared to apply pressure in a strangling motion while shouting: “See this weak neck. Shut up.” A council solicitor said “She then strikes the cat on the head and face and calls the cat names.” The animal, who does not belong to Thomas, could be seen grasping and moving her jaws in pain before being shut back into the crate. District Judge George Conner was told the incident had been reported after Thomas sent the video to a relative. A vet who examined the clip confirmed the cat would have suffered from being choked and struck. Thomas initially denied the allegations until she was shown footage. At that stage she claimed the cat had bitten her. Animal welfare officers subsequently located the pet and returned her to her owner, who received an improvement notice not to leave her with Thomas again. During interviews she claimed to have given the cat “a smack because it wouldn’t shut up and attacked me”. A photograph of an alleged bite mark on her hand was also produced. Thomas acknowledged her behaviour had been inappropriate but stated that she suffers from depression. Defence barrister Paul Burns acknowledged the seriousness of an incident he argued had lasted “a couple of seconds”. Stressing his client’s previous clear record, he told the court her IQ has been assessed in the bottom one percent of the general population. “She is clearly a lady with very significant anxiety and various other difficulties,” Mr Burns added. Sentencing | 80 hours of community service. £172 in costs. Banned from keeping cats for 10 years. The order prohibits Thomas from keeping cats, from looking after cats or being involved in anything to do with cats. Belfast Live