Microwaved cat woman avoids jail

A woman who cooked the family cat in a microwave oven after one of the animal's fleas bit her on the leg has escaped jail.

Nadine Trewin, 31, was banned from keeping animals for five years and was sentenced to a two-year community rehabilitation order.

But the RSPCA, which brought the case to court, has condemned the ban as "far too lenient".

Nadine Trewin bows her head outside court

RSPCA spokeswoman Claire Kennet said: "We feel she should have received a lifetime ban because the act was deliberate."

Trewin, a mother-of-two, had changed her plea and admitted cruelty during a trial at Horsham magistrates' court last month.

The court heard that on 23 March, 2000, Trewin, who had drunk seven cans of lager and almost two bottles of wine, became angry with the cat when she was bitten by the flea.

Buried in garden

Trewin, of Adelaide Close, Langley Green, Crawley, said the cat jumped into the microwave before the door accidentally slammed shut, activating the oven.

She said the cat had cooked for less than a minute, but then the animal failed to move so she tipped it out of the oven from the kitchen window.

She later buried it in the back garden.

I have always had strong feelings of love for animals

Nadine Trewin

Two days later Trewin told her friend Stacey Passmore that she had killed the six-year-old cat.

Miss Passmore was so upset she decided to contact the RSPCA, which prosecuted Trewin.

Paul Luttman, defending, read a letter from Trewin to the court in which she said: "I have always had strong feelings of love for animals.

"I have never intentionally harmed them.

"I spent my life with animals and lots of pets. I am sorry for what happened."