Lawrence
Santos, 24, tried to drown the cat Mimi on August 13 last year – but when she
fought back and scratched him he beat her to death.
He woke up his then-girlfriend Rebecca
Springer, 25, in her home in Maida Vale, London, telling her that Mimi was ‘not
responding’ after he had attempted to give her a midnight bath.
But when Ms
Springer saw the cat, whom she had adopted just two months earlier, she could
see she was bleeding from a severe head wound.
A veterinary
pathologist later found ‘signs the cat had suffered numerous serious injuries’
as well as
‘signs of the cat having been submerged in water’, Southwark Crown
Court heard.
‘There were
signs of injury to the defendant consistent with the cat having fought back,
because he had injuries to his hands showing that he had been scratched by it
quite severely,’ prosecutor Anthony Heaton-Armstrong said.
Santos then launched a violent attack
on Ms Springer, pinning her down onto the bed and attacking her before she fled
into the street in her dressing gown.
He chased after her and attempted to drag her
back inside by her robe’s cord, causing further cuts to Ms Springer’s knees and
feet.
Neighbours who saw the incident called the
police, and Ms Springer was rushed to St Thomas’ Hospital’s A&E department
for treatment to various cuts and bruises to her head, neck, face, arms, legs
and feet, as well as a ruptured ear drum.
