#MostEvil | Reece Coney, born 11 January 1998, of Wye Avenue, Bridgwater TA6 5DG – trampled his ex-partner’s cat to death in vile revenge attack Cat killer Reece Coney from Bridgwater, Somerset, UK and victim Pedro Coney saw the cat, known as Pedro, in a supermarket car park and took him to the Quantock Hills where he put him in a shopping bag and repeatedly stamped him underfoot. A judge at Taunton Crown Court said it had been a targeted attack designed to deliberately distress his ex. He said: “This was an absolutely disgraceful offence. “It was malicious, deliberate activity and beyond the pale frankly, and it was targeted.” Prosecutor Ms Lucy Taylor said the defendant, a delivery driver, had been in a relationship with Pedro’s owner. Following the split, she had left the animal in the care of a relative but when she returned was told he had disappeared. She printed posters and displayed them in the neighbourhood but there was no sign of him. Six months later, in November 2019, she received a message from the defendant’s latest partner to say the defendant had killed the cat by strangling and stamping. She said Coney had seen the cat while at Asda and put him in the footwell of the car. He had told his partner to drive to Cheddar so he could throw him off the cliffs. She had refused but instead, and out of fear, agreed to drive to the Quantock Hills. When they got there Coney took the animal outside and killed him with his foot, she said. He then buried the bag under some weeds. Pedro’s body was never found. Ms Taylor said the defendant messaged his ex to try and persuade her not to go to the police. “There was clearly evidence of planning. It seems to have been a revenge attack on what is termed his ex partner’s property but was her pet cat.” Coney pleaded guilty to an offence of criminal damage. The offence carries a maximum of three months in prison. When police arrested him he initially blamed his latest partner for taking the cat and he had simply released it into the wild. Mr Harry Ahuja, defending, said Coney had initially been too embarrassed and ashamed to admit what he had done. “It was a disgraceful act on his part to take someone’s pet and treat in that manner,” he said. Coney had been in a toxic relationship at the time which was now over. He said the defendant had matured since the incident and feared going to prison. He has no previous convictions. Sentencing: 12-month community order with 60 hours of unpaid work; £200 court costs and £600 compensation to Pedro’s owner. 20 rehabilitation days. No ban on keeping animals was imposed with the judge stating that he was “not sentencing [Coney] for an animal welfare offence” despite it being “part of it”. SomersetLive