A mother of three is facing jail after being found guilty of killing a kitten in a microwave in revenge for its owner reporting her abusive partner to the police.
Gina Robins, 31, put the 10-week-old pet in the oven after using it to warm food for her 18-month-old son Oliver while at the home of its owner, Sarah ****ton, days after her then friend had reported an incident involving Robins' partner outside the same house.
Ms ****ton, who is hard of hearing, was able to hear a noise "like a crisp packet being popped", followed by a loud "screeching" while in the lounge, separated from the kitchen by a hallway and two doors.
After the kitten had died, Robins sent her a text message, calling time on their friendship and saying: "Remember the saying 'What goes around comes around'? It has started already to bite you in the a**e. The cat? Karma."
Robins had denied a charge of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, claiming that the microwave, which starts automatically when the door shuts, was accidentally turned on by one of the cats after the kitten got inside.
But magistrates in her home town of Torquay, Devon, found her evidence during her day-long trial "far-fetched" and "inconsistent".
Chairman of the bench Liz Klyne told Robins: "We find it implausible that a kitten of 10 weeks of age could climb up on to a work surface and get into a microwave and then another cat closed the door.
"We find you deliberately placed the kitten in the microwave, which ultimately caused its death."
She warned Robins that they would look at all options, including jail, when she is sentenced next month.
Nothing makes me angrier than cruelty to children and animals.
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