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A mother laughed as she forced her dog to drag a kitten from its perch on a fence and maul the helpless animal to death.

Heartless Stephanie Curwen, 24, encouraged her dog Duke to repeatedly jump up at black Bengal cat Regi until he fell from a fence and into the road.

In scenes captured on CCTV, she then watched in amusement as the tiny animal had the life ripped out of him without trying to stop the attack in any way.

Prosecuting for the RSPCA, Jonathan Fail said the only attempts to save the kitten from his cruel fate was when Craig Hargreaves, a neighbour of the cat's owner, pulled him from the dog's mouth.

Mr Fail told Blackpool Magistrates' Court said: "He pulled the dog back with one finger by the collar.

"No resistance was fought.

"There was no growling or suggestion of aggression and he indicated to the woman that she should put the dog, believed to be a Staffordshire bull terrier, on a lead.

(Image: Thomas Temple/rossparry.co.uk)

"He felt two heartbeats from the cat and then nothing and the cat appeared to be dead."

Mr Fail said the neighbour described how the woman said "naughty" to the dog, but not in a way to be telling it off.

Avet's examination of six-month-old kitten Regi found him to have two bite wounds and he died from a punctured lung.

Curwen, of Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, walked free from court yesterday after pleading guilty to causing an animal to fight and causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

She was handed a 24-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and was banned from keeping or owning any animal for ten years.

A description of graphic CCTV footage read out to the court detailed how the cat had been sitting on a fence when the dog saw him and jumped up.

He then started to walk away but Curwen pointed to the cat and encouraged the dog to jump up at him again.

The cat eventually came off the post and ran into the road, while Curwen let the dog off the lead, and it went after the animal.

Mr Fail said: "Throughout the whole of the attack, the female made no attempt to stop it.

(Image: Thomas Temple/rossparry.co.uk)

"In effect she seemed to be encouraging the whole incident."

The court heard that when Curwen was interviewed by police she claimed she didn't think her dog would actually catch the cat.

David Charnley, defending Curwen, said: "Clearly this is a very sad and tragic case which couldn't and shouldn't have happened.

"This defendant has learned a very solitary lesson. She said she didn't expect to happen what did happen."

Curwen was also ordered to pay £200 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Speaking outside court, Reggie's owner Lesley-Anne Brockleburst slammed the sentence Curwen was handed.

Lesley-Anne, 41, said: "I'm happy about the ban but she should have gone to prison for what she did.

"Hopefully then it might sink in what she did, and how cruel it was.

"She's not sorry for her actions, she hasn't gone out of her way to apologise to me and my family.

"She seemed to be getting a lot of pleasure out of it so maybe it's not the first time she's done something like this.

(Image: Thomas Temple/rossparry.co.uk)

"It's not about us, it's about our cat.

"I just want justice for him, and sadly I don't feel we've got that."

Mr Hargreaves, 45, was in court to hear the verdict.

Speaking afterwards, he said: "What makes us the most upset is that she just laughed throughout, she didn't have an ounce of respect for that poor animal.

"I managed to pull the dog away from the cat using one finger, it was as vicious as a playful puppy.

"I feel sorry for the dog that he was subjected to such cruel owners.

"It wasn't interested in the cat it would have carried on down the street and got home without any problem.

"I'm glad the whole thing has been sorted and she's been punished for her actions."

Mum-of-three Lesley-Anne said she initially believed Curwen's claims that it had all happened in a "split second", until she watched the graphic footage captured by her neighbour's CCTV.

"One of my neighbours went and got the dog off and took the kitten out of his mouth," she said.

"She told him it all happened in a split second.

"She lied to everyone.

"But something didn't feel right and we believed what she said.

"Yet something was niggling away at me so I asked my neighbour to look at the footage.

"The attack went on for about six-and-a-half minutes and she just stood by and watched.

"It was horrendous, it didn't happen quickly.

"It happened very, very slowly.

"Clearly she got a lot of enjoyment out of it, she was laughing."

Lesley-Anne, a secretary for her husband's IT consultancy, said her whole family and her neighbours had been affected by the incident.

She said: "We had two dogs and two cats before this happened and now it's changed the dynamics of the household.

"My neighbour who tried to help was absolutely mortified and still is to this day.

"I don't think he's really got over it.

"It's the fact that she's laughing throughout that is most disturbing.

"Sitting on the table watching was Regi's dad.

"No one can tell me that he didn't know what was going on. He did.

"His son was being tortured like that.

"If he had intervened he would have been attacked as well."

Lesley-Anne dismissed Curwen's claims of remorse and said: "She's probably remorseful for the fact she chose to walk down a road with cameras all over it.

"Had we not have had the cameras she would have got away with it.

"I'm glad that we had the cameras and I'm hoping it will make people think twice about what they are doing.

Lesley-Anne said she pushed the RSPCA to enforce a warrant for the dog to be seized shortly after the attack, and it has now been rehomed.

She added: "I have never wanted the dog to be destroyed.

"It was quite clear that it was only doing what it was told to do."