‘What I did was horrible’: Drunk man who threw kittens off bridge pleads guilty to animal cruelty

A man has admitted to drunkenly throwing kittens off a west London bridge into the River Thames, saying ‘what I did was horrible.’

Andrew Shephard, 58, pleaded guilty to three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.

On November 30, Mr Shephard had the three kittens in a box before he’tipped them over the edge into the river’ on Twickenham Bridge, the court heard.

Prosecutor Jack Wadsworth said members of the public saw the incident and they heard Mr Shephard saying ‘let them die, I want them to die.’

One of the kittens was saved before it fell in, while the other two entered the river.

After the incident, Mr Shephard said ‘he was very drunk and had a problem with alcohol.’

He also said he ‘did not intend on killing them but his daughter could no longer look after them.’

Mr Shephard, who represented himself in court, said: ‘I must say that I was completely out of it.

‘I was absolutely paralytic. I don’t really remember anything about what happened.

‘I do realise what I did was horrible and I have to look myself every morning in the mirror and know what I did which is completely out of my normal behavior.

‘I can’t say any more than that.’

One of the kittens was taken home by a rescuer, while the other two were taken to a vet in ‘bad condition’, the prosecutor said.

Mr Shephard, of no fixed address, will be sentenced on February 17 after a pre-sentence report is completed.

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