Badger found hanged from football goal in Brentwood Published duration 2 October 2018

image copyright RSPCA image caption The RSPCA suspects the badger was alive when it was hanged from a football goal

A badger has been found hanged from a football goal near a school in Essex.

A member of the public found the dead animal in a sports field on Sawyers Hall Lane near Becket Keys School in Brentwood on Friday.

The RSPCA suspects the badger was alive when it was hanged from the crossbar with a rope around is neck.

The animal welfare charity is appealing for information about the attack which it described as a "sickening, violent and disturbing" act.

RSPCA trainee inspector Ann Bennett said: "It is horrible to think someone could be responsible for killing any animal in such a violent way.

"We would like to get to the bottom of this sickening, deliberate act of cruelty to a wild animal."