Catapult attack thug jailed after shooting cat in the eye

Misty, an 11-year-old tortoiseshell cat, had to have one eye removed after Craig Nunn shot a marble at her as she slept on a wall in the garden of her owner's Stourport home.

After Nunn was jailed yesterday, Misty's owner Terry Ruff said he was 'bitterly disappointed' with the sentence.

Mr Ruff said: "He shot her with a marble from a catapult. It would be like a human being shot with a gun."

Kidderminster Magistrates Court heard Craig Nunn, aged 28, had been cycling home just before 5am on July 13 after lamping rabbits, hunting the animals at night, with his brother-in-law.

When he came across Misty sleeping peacefully, he pulled the catapult from his pocket and shot a marble at her from about 10ft away.

The marble struck her and she fell from the wall. When he appeared at court, he pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary suffering to Misty.

After the hearing, Mr Ruff, a father of three from Moorhall Drive in Stourport, told how the family had found Misty after the attack.

"Her poor eye was just in a terrible state. It was absolutely awful."

Misty's veterinary care cost £468.69, as she was not insured.

Mr Ruff, aged 47, said later they had checked CCTV cameras installed a couple of years ago and it had become clear what had happened.

"We knew Misty had not been run over or anything like that," he said.

"At first we thought she had been punched or kicked."

When police checked the CCTV, they recognised Nunn, who is unemployed, and questioned him.

Prosecuting, Peter Love told the court: "He said he had had a bad experience with a cat in the past and the cat he shot looked like that cat."

Charles Hobbs, defending, described Nunn's actions as 'a moment of utter madness'. He said: "He doesn't like cats – he makes no bones about that. He hasn't liked cats since he was scratched as a youngster.

"But he wasn't roaming Stourport on Severn looking for cats to attack."

Magistrate Trevor Burgess said: "The loss of an eye for the cat would have been extremely painful and will affect it for the rest of its life."

Nunn, who owns two dogs in the house he shares with his partner and their three children, was disqualified from owning cats for 10 years but no order was made for court costs or compensation for the Ruff family. Mr Ruff said: "At the end of the day pets are like your children and if they are hurt you are going to get them tended to no matter what the cost.

"But I would like to have seen Nunn have to pay something towards what he did."