Spurned man crushed ex-girlfriend's hamster and fed it to his dog

A man hurled his girlfriend's hamster against the wall then stamped it to death before feeding it to his dog - because she dumped him. Ryan O'Brien, 22, killed the helpless pet called Dave to get back at Jemma Tracey, 23, after she ended their six-year relationship. Magistrates heard Jemma visited jilted O'Brien's home in Stevenage, Herts., in July last year to collect her belongings, including her two pet hamsters. Fearing he was facing eviction on top of losing his girlfriend, jobless O'Brien refused to hand the animals over and demanded a £20 ransom for them. But when Jemma refused to pay O'Brien picked up one of the hamsters, called Dave, and warned her she had 'one more chance'. he again refused to give him the money so O'Brien hurled the pet against the wall of his flat.

It crashed off the wall and initially survived the horrific attack until O'Brien, realising the rodent was still alive, crushed the animal under his boot before calling over across his bulldog - to lap up the remains off the floor. O'Brien reached for the second hamster and threatened to slit its throat before desperate Jemma paid his demand of £5 and fled with her surviving pet. O'Brien was arrested the next day and charged with causing unnecessary suffering to an animal under the 2006 Animal Welfare Act. But he walked free from court after magistrates in Stevenage sentenced him to a suspended sentence of six months behind bars after pleading guilty to the act of cruelty dubbed by a magistrate as "uncontrollable rage". Mark Jones, prosecuting for the RSPCA, told magistrates the offence was "premeditated and gratuitous cruelty".


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He told Stevenage Magistrates Court that Jemma said she had returned to the property soley to collect her things and that O'Brien flew into a rage because he believed he was about to be evicted. He said: "Jemma had recently ended the relationship, he could not accept that it was over and he was angry. He acknowledged that he had been drinking and she remembers him stumbling around and that his breath smelt of cider. He suddenly started screaming at her 'it's all you f**king fault I'm getting kicked out, I hope you die. He demanded to be paid 20 quid for the hamsters, threatening to kill them if she didn't pay. He picked up Dave and held him in his hand and said 'you've got one more chance' before throwing the hamster as hard as he could against the wall. Miss Tracey said she heard a huge thud and before the hamster fell down behind the sofa. He picked it up and said 'oh look its still alive' and the dropped it to the floor and stamped on it."

Mr Jones added: "As she left O'Brien said to her 'I would have cut the hamster's throat and made you watch me, I hope you and your daughter go in the same coffin." O'Brien attended court flanked by friends and his new girlfriends, more than once he appeared to smirk in the dock and one of his friends was ejected from court for laughing out loud. Chairman of the bench Malcolm Wulwick condemned O'Brien's "uncontrollable rage." He said: "Mr O'Brien you wilfully killed and mutilated a helpless animal in your uncontrollable rage. I sentence to 24 weeks in prison, this would have been 26 had it not been for your late guilty plea. This sentence will be suspended for two years." Mr Wulwick also insisted that O'Brien carry out 140 hours of unpaid community service attend an offenders substance abuse programme and pay £375 towards the cost of the case.