A MAN who repeatedly shot a cat with a pellet gun said he did it because the animal was "vermin".

Paul Hill (45), of Fountain Place, Whitefield, fired at the stray which had been locked in an upstairs room at his home. Hill pleaded guilty to torturing an animal at a previous hearing before Bury Magistrates, and appeared for sentencing on Tuesday.(May 25)

The court heard that, on March 11, Hill had been in a pub with his ex-partner, Emma Hayden, when her 13-year-old son called to say that the cat was in the house.

In a statement to police, Ms Hayden said Hill had told the teenager to shut the animal in a room and wait for him to return.

On the way back, she claimed, Hill boasted that he was going to "have some fun". He waited for his 12-year-old son to arrive before going upstairs with both boys and an airgun, leaving Ms Hayden downstairs.

Prosecuting, Mrs Gill Hindle said: "She said that he sounded excited and heard him laughing. She didn't know how many times the gun was fired but heard the sound of scuffling.

"When he came downstairs with the cat it was obviously dead and not moving. She said she was disgusted, but he called her soft."

The defendant was arrested after police spoke to Ms Hayden's son who said the other teenager had kicked and stepped on the cat. Both boys subsequently received eight-month referral orders.

Hill said the animal was a regular intruder, soiling carpets in the house, stealing food and terrorising the family cat Truffles.

He said: "I'm an animal lover and didn't mean to hurt anything, but this was vermin and didn't belong to anybody.

"In the months that I was with my partner, this cat terrorised the house, stole food left over from Sunday lunch and dirtied carpets. It wasn't as cruel as it's been made out to be."

Magistrates sentenced Hill to a four month curfew order, banned him from keeping animals for three years, ordered to pay £43 costs, and confiscated the gun and pellets.