James Higginson, 20, collapsed against a bollard outside court after he admitted to killing the cats but avoided jail time – and was ordered to pay £500 in costs
This is the moment a double cat killer broke down in tears after he avoided jail over the killing of his ex-girlfriend’s two cats. Violent thug James Higginson walked out of court with his mum before he collapsed against a bollard.
The 20-year-old had brutally killed two of his former partner Caitlin Morely’s cats and went on to attack a third before he was caught. He attacked pets Tiggy, Sushi and Chase when Ms Morely was at work, leaving them with numerous injuries. A neighbour said they heard cries of distress from one of the cats and claimed to have heard Higginson shout: “How do you like this you stupid b****?”
When Miss Morley challenged him, Higginson repeatedly denied to her that he had been harming her pets. Tiggy and Sushi died in the summer of 2023 and Chase was later taken to the same vets with a swollen face.
The vets alerted the RSPCA and Chase was seized before Higginson could subject the pet to a fatal beating. Both of the dead cats were exhumed but while their post-mortems were inconclusive, experts believe their deaths were caused by repeated blunt force trauma.
Higginson, a chef from Weymouth, Dorset, sobbed in the dock of Bournemouth Crown Court as he was sentenced for three counts of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal. He was given a 15 month suspended prison sentence and banned from owning animals for 20 years.
The judge spared him an immediate custodial sentence as he was an ‘immature’ 18-year-old at the time of the offences with ‘mental health problems’ and locking him up would cause distress to his family. Afterwards, while Higginson breathed a sigh of relief, Miss Morley, 20, said she was disgusted by the sentence.
She said: “I don’t think anyone who hurts animals should be walking free – I think it is disgusting. Because he didn’t get prison it shows people can do what they want and get away with it.”
The court heard his campaign of cruelty against Miss Morley’s cats lasted from March to September 2023. Gregory Gordon, prosecuting, said: “The defendant moved into the flat that was already occupied by his partner who had two cats, Tiggy and Sushi.
“Both of the cats died at the defendant’s hands, and the third kitten, Chase, was injured and could have gone the same way but was seized. The expert witness concluded that the injuries sustained by Tiggy, Sushi and Chase were deliberate acts inflicted upon them.
“In one incident, a neighbour heard sounds of a cat in distress coming from the defendant’s flat and a male screaming ‘how do you like this, how does this feel, stupid b***h, f*****g stop it’.” Miss Morley found Tiggy dead on June 6, 2023 and woke to find Sushi dead on August 12, 2023.
She bought Chase three days later and by the end of that August the ‘cycle’ was beginning again and she found the terrified cat hiding under a kitchen cupboard with a bloody eye and swollen face. She took him to the vets who alerted the RSPCA and Chase was taken off them for its own protection.
The court heard that Higginson had two convictions for six previous offences, including domestic violence against Miss Morley. Christopher Pix, mitigating, said: “He accepts full responsibility for the offences and he expresses his deep remorse.”
Recorder Patrick Mason told Higginson that he should be ‘ashamed’ of himself for having committed ‘pointless, cruel and horrible acts on defenceless cats’. He said: “Everybody who has a pet knows that it should be a source of pleasure to us.
“You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself for doing something like that.” But, explaining his decision to hand him a suspended sentence, he added: “At the age of 18 you weren’t able to handle your emotions in a way that someone much more grown up would do, which given your mental health problems that’s perhaps not surprising.
“You are in work and have good prospects of rehabilitation and sending you to prison would have a significant harmful impact on family members.” Higginson, who pleaded guilty to the charges, will also have to pay £500 costs.
After the sentencing, Miss Morley said: “I don’t know why he did it – the only reason I can think of is that it was another way to hurt me during a campaign of domestic abuse. I’ve had to experience it first hand from someone I used to trust which is hard to imagine.”