West Ham defender Kurt Zouma avoids jail after a viral video of him kicking and slapping a cat went viral, but he was sentenced to180 hours of unpaid community work, ordered to pay costs of £8,887 and banned from owning the animal for five years.
Disturbing video showing Zouma abusing a cat which was posted on his brother Yoan’s Snapchat account In February went viral, triggering an RSPCA investigation.
After his two cats were taken away from him, the France international was charged with three counts under the Animal Welfare Act.
The 27-year-old West Ham United center back, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, was greeted by a man dressed as a cat as he arrived at Thames Magistrates Court to hear the verdict from District Judge Susan Holdham, who termed the event as “disgraceful and reprehensible.”
A man dressed as a cat outside Thames Magistrates Court.
What Punishment Did Zouma Get?
After being charged with “aiding, abetting, counselling, or procuring Kurt Zouma to commit the offence,” his brother Yoan Zouma was sentenced to 140 hours in prison. He also admitted pled guilty to filming the kittens being abused last week.
Judge Holdham took into account that both Zoumas had no prior offenses and pleaded guilty as quickly as possible, with Kurt Zouma receiving a £250,000 fine by West Ham following the incident in February.
Speaking directly to Kurt Zouma before announcing the sentence, she said: “You kicked and slapped either the same cat or both of them – that cat looked to you to care for its needs On that date in February, you didn’t provide for its needs but caused unnecessary suffering for your own amusement.”
Kurt Zouma pleaded guilty to animal welfare charges
He pled guilty last week to two counts of causing “unnecessary suffering to a protected animal, by kicking and slapping a cat,” in violation of the Animal Welfare Act 2006’s section 4 subsection 1. A third accusation of violating section 9 by failing to “protect the animal from pain, injury, or sickness” was dropped.
On February 12, both cats were handed to the RSPCA, and Zouma has since handed over ownership.
Kurt Zouma was penalised two weeks’ salary – the maximum allowed – by West Ham, who gave £250,000 to nine different charities when the video surfaced.
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