A MAN who threw a defenceless kitten against a brick wall in front of horrified onlookers has been banned from keeping animals for 10 years.

Mark Hall, aged 44, hurled the ginger kitten at the wall of his flat in Westminster Avenue, Radcliffe, on June 13 last year, a court heard.

Hall denied the charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a kitten, instead claiming he had thrown a piece of rubbish towards a bin, but was found guilty after a trial last year.

He appeared for sentencing before Bury magistrates on Tuesday (January 20) where he was given a 12-week jail term suspended for one year, in addition to the animal ban, and was ordered to pay £250 costs.

The court heard how Hall had visited Coronation Road Library on the morning of June 13, working with two female library assistants before using the free phone in the foyer.

He was heard shouting and became increasingly verbally abusive, before leaving the library and walking towards his flat across the road.

Mr Steve Woodman, prosecuting, described how the two women followed Hall and watched him “fling back his right arm and throw the contents of his hand at the wall of his property.”

Mr Woodman said: “The ladies realised that object was a young kitten.

“The kitten rebounded off the wall onto the grass in front of the building and was clearly distressed.

“When the two ladies spoke to Mr Hall he was heard to say ‘It is my f****** cat, it is nothing to do with you.

“He refused the ladies’ pleas to hand over the cat and again threw it, this time underarm at the grass nearby.

“One of the ladies described how he then swung the animal around ‘like a rag doll’.”

The court heard how one of the women was so upset by seeing an animal treated in such a way, it made her feel physically sick.

Police officers found one cat and three kittens in Hall’s flat, two of which were ginger. Officers searched for a dead or seriously injured kitten in the property and the nearby area but found nothing.

The animals, which had no signs of injury, were seized under the Animal Welfare Act and have since been rehomed.

Magistrates heard how Hall had no previous animal cruelty charges on his record but had committed 55 previous offences, nine of which were violent.

Ms Zoe Earle, defending, said: “Mr Hall said he had only ever owned four cats.

“There was no medical evidence that suggested any of the animals had sustained any forms of injury.”

Ms Earle said that, two days before the incident, Hall had been described by his consultant psychiatrist as “clearly suffering with a psychotic episode”, which included hallucinations, and on July 19 he was sectioned for six weeks.

She told the court that, on the morning of the offence, he believed he had been beaten with an iron bar and had gone into the library to report the attack.

Ms Earle added: “Mr Hall’s mental health is something he finds quite shameful, something he struggles to come to terms with and speak about.

“He was not on medication at the time but is now regularly medicated and in a much better place.”

After sentencing Hall, magistrates' bench chairman Jane Creegan, said: “This court will not tolerate any form of cruelty to animals.

“We consider this offence so serious that only a custodial sentence is appropriate, due to the fact that you threw a defenceless kitten against a brick wall and then threw it again.”

But she said the bench acknowledged that, due to Hall’s mental health issues, it would be better to suspend the sentence.

She added: “This court would also like to say that we are very pleased that you are getting help with your problems and hope you continue to do so and get better as you go along.”