CONVICTED (2017) | Matthew James Sparks, born May 1987, of Old Quarry Road, Shirehampton, Bristol BS11 – caught on camera repeatedly torturing his housemate’s cat Self-employed architect Matthew Sparks followed the little cat around the flat just to torment her Architect Matthew Sparks, director of Sparks Architecture (dissolved February 2020), admitted causing unnecessary suffering by inflicting physical abuse on a cat named Elfie and engaging in acts of mental torture. Elfie’s owner was suspicious due to changes in her pet’s behaviour so installed hidden cameras. Shocking footage showed Sparks dropping the helpless cat to the ground, aggressively gripping her by the scruff of the neck and following her around the house just to torment her. “Weird behaviour”: cat abuser Matthew Sparks is now banned from keeping animals for life RSPCA inspector Dan Hatfield said: ‘This was one of the most disturbing cases I have ever worked on. ‘Matthew targeted Elfie repeatedly when they were home alone together and on the footage can be seen dropping the cat to the ground, kicking out at her, aggressively gripping her by the scruff of the neck and relentlessly following her around. ‘It was very weird behaviour. It is really distressing to think about the fear and pain Elfie experienced in her own home. ‘If it wasn’t for her owner deciding to install the hidden cameras no one would have known what was going on.’ Sentencing: fined £300 fine and ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work. Banned from keeping animals for life. Daily Mail ITV News