'Sadistic' kitten killer jailed and banned for life from keeping animals in Liverpool

• Warning: This story contains a distressing image and details

A "sadistic" kitten killer has been jailed for 27 months after receiving what the RSPCA say is one of the longest-ever prison sentences of its kind.

Lewis Hudson, from Netherley, Liverpool, abused the kitten - called Binx - for eight months between 2021 and 2022.

He eventually caused injuries so serious an animal welfare expert had to rule out whether Binx had been hit by a car.

Hudson, 23, shot the kitten with a BB gun, stamped on her with steel toe cap boots and covered her in bleach. He even hit her with a shovel.

Binx belonged to Hudson's partner, in Prescot, to whom he sent a string of vile messages on the day he caused the injuries which killed her.

He wrote: "If ye don’t get home now am gonna kill it.”

An RSCPA Inspector examined Binx, after Hudson's partner called police.

They found the kitten was covered in cuts and bruises and had suffered fractured ribs and a punctured lung. The latter led to her death.

Inspector Anthony Joynes said Hudson had inflicted "stomach churning and sadistic levels of cruelty over a prolonged period."

He added: "This is one of the most extreme examples of physical and psychological suffering inflicted on an animal I've seen in 14 years with the RSPCA.

"This case involved nothing short of torture."

At Liverpool Crown Court, Hudson was sentenced to 27 months after admitting two offences against Binx. He was also banned from keeping animals for life.

The sentence is believed to be one of the longest ever handed down under the Animal Welfare Act.

Judge Brian Cummings described Hudson's actions as a "sickening catalogue of cruelty to a defenceless animal." 

He also sentenced Hudson to an extra five months, to run concurrently, for putting a person in fear of violence by harassment.