A former soldier has been jailed after savagely kicking a cat lying injured in the road after being hit by a car.

Anthony Delaney, 30, of Waterton Lane, Mossley, had drunk at least 10 pints of lager when he and a gang of fellow revellers spotted the wounded animal on Queen’s Road, Ashton-under-Lyne.

The dad-of-two was caught on CCTV crossing himself as if taking a penalty kick before booting the defenceless cat through the air.

The swaggering thug then took a second swing, kicking it against a wall.

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Delaney and his ‘intimidating’ pals also subjected two teenage girls who had stopped their car to help the animal to a torrent of abuse - forcing them to drive away before the RSPCA arrived.

The cat died just minutes after inspectors arrived at the scene at around 5am on Sunday, September 22, last year.

Delaney was arrested hours later and told police he and friends wanted to put the cat ‘out of its misery’ and that he carried out the act as he had undergone survival training in the armed forces.

The lout, who pleaded guilty to causing unnecessary cruelty to an animal at an earlier hearing, visibly winced as CCTV footage was played to Tameside Magistrates’ Court.

Defending, Christopher Squibbs, said Delaney had intended to try and put the injured cat out of its misery.

He said: “It was a misguided attempt to try and deal with the situation when he was in a state of drink.

“He handled it appallingly badly.”

The court was told driver Charlotte Lewis-Dobson first spotted the injured animal and phoned the RSPCA before moving her car in front of the cat to prevent further injury.

She and passenger Nicole Calvert were later confronted by the gang, and told ‘you better drive away now’ after pleading with them to leave the animal alone.

A statement from Ms Lewis-Dobson said: “I can’t believe somebody could do that particularly when the cat was injured and distressed.

“It was crying out and wanted to be left alone. Its last few minutes were full of fear and pain.”

Delaney was handed an 18-week jail term and banned from keeping animals for five years.

Chair of the bench Catherine Elliott said: “This was a deliberate act of malicious cruelty to an already injured and defenceless animal.

“We would be failing in our public duty if we did not pass a custodial sentence.”

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