Nine-year-old Thamesmead schoolboy beats cat to death

4:51pm Tuesday 12th February 2013 in News By Tim MacFarlan, Bexley and north Kent reporter

A NINE-YEAR-OLD boy beat a cat to death at a Thamesmead primary school.

The animal had apparently been struck by a car, before the pupil finished it off in the grounds of Jubilee Primary School, Crowden Way, Crossway, after school last Friday.

Other pupils were allegedly surrounding the cat and shouting excitedly as it was killed.

The school reported the incident to an animal shelter in Lewisham.

A school spokeswoman said: “There was a very serious incident after school last week involving one of our pupils.

“This is an extremely sensitive issue for the family, the children involved and the community.

“The matter is still under investigation by the school.

“The children and parents involved are being kept informed.”

The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges.

  • The council is now saying the incident happened outside the school grounds.

Did you witness this incident or know anything about it? Ring 01689 885702, e-mail tim.macfarlan@london.newsquest.co.uk or tweet @NewsShopperTim

Comments(58)

Inspirationalady28 says...
5:37pm Tue 12 Feb 13

What's this vicious evil little kid going to do when he's in his teens growing into adulthood?

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ksc says...
5:50pm Tue 12 Feb 13

A cat today, a person...well you see where I'm going with this I'm sure, wow! Britain's future, we have two hopes there, Bob Hope and... you finish it.

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Bevangirl says...
6:24pm Tue 12 Feb 13

It's very worrying to imagine pupils watching 'excitedly' as the poor cat was beaten to death - shows just what sort of morons we are breeding these days. Was there nobody supervising in the playground????? What a delightful primary school this must be!!!!

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junie says...
6:45pm Tue 12 Feb 13

hope his parents are proud of him

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Bevangirl says...
6:49pm Tue 12 Feb 13

You know, Junie, the scarey thing is - they probably are!

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cookster says...
8:09pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I never believe any story the NS does until a grown-up paper confirms it.

Will wait with baited cynicism.

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banjo8 says...
8:16pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Me too, I'm surprised they get the interest they do.
But, as far as the story is concerned he really might have been putting it out of its misery. It may have been the kindest action possible.

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Bevangirl says...
10:13pm Tue 12 Feb 13

To give the boy the benefit of the doubt perhaps he was doing the best for the cat but, if the reporting is correct, it's still frightening that other children were enjoying it!

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seanharwood123 says...
11:51pm Tue 12 Feb 13

he should be put in a care home n shown how to behave

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JuliaM says...
5:46am Wed 13 Feb 13

banjo8 wrote:
Me too, I'm surprised they get the interest they do.
But, as far as the story is concerned he really might have been putting it out of its misery. It may have been the kindest action possible.
It might have been, yes.

But that didn't stop the RSPCA prosecuting a policeman who did exactly the same thing a few years ago (luckily, it was thrown out)!

Why the 'hands off' approach here? I rather doubt it's because they've learned their lesson...

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banjo8 says...
8:42am Wed 13 Feb 13

It takes a fair bit of bottle (pun intended) to put an animal out of its misery so I have a fair bit of respect for this lad, however, those wathcing and baying in the background sound like morons without a clue.

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reptiles says...
9:06am Wed 13 Feb 13

The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges. WHAT THE???????????

Why are they NOt pressing charges. Ok so poor cat was laready hit by a car which by the sounds of it drove off, but NO reason for some yobby kid to do what he did, AND with kids surrounding him egging him on by the sounds of it! Hope the school and parents are proud of the type of kids they are turning out!

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Sayso says...
9:24am Wed 13 Feb 13

This was a disgusting, heartless and barbaric thing for this child to do. If he found the cat injured why didn't he alert a teacher or a parent? Why wasn't any effort made to help the poor cat? If he can so heartlessly kill an animal in cold blood like this, imagine what sort of thug he's going to grow up to be. This story has James Bulger 2.0 written all over it.

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Erith chap says...
9:28am Wed 13 Feb 13

Hmm, "Other pupils were allegedly surrounding the cat and shouting excitedly as it was killed"
Sounds highly unlikely children would do this if they were watching a cat get savagely beaten to death.

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Willmington says...
9:38am Wed 13 Feb 13

Bevangirl wrote:
It's very worrying to imagine pupils watching 'excitedly' as the poor cat was beaten to death - shows just what sort of morons we are breeding these days. Was there nobody supervising in the playground????? What a delightful primary school this must be!!!!
I didn't witness this but friends tell me that it didn't actually happen at the school.

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donna_kebab says...
9:57am Wed 13 Feb 13

Maybe we should do things differently - keep the foxes and cull the kids.!

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the wall says...
10:53am Wed 13 Feb 13

The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges...... Becasue you can't. The boy is under the age criminal responsibility.

Criminal responsibility is age 10.

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banjo8 says...
11:12am Wed 13 Feb 13

You're all just leaping in on the bandwagon to have a go at this poor boy when you have no idea what happened. If he put a badly injured animal out of its misery then good on him. If other kids around acted badly they should be ashamed of themselves.

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Inspirationalady28 says...
11:24am Wed 13 Feb 13

“The cat had "apparently" been struck by a car”.. so that would mean the boy would have had to come out of the school grounds and onto the roadside..where were all the primary kids parents then?

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
12:18pm Wed 13 Feb 13

come on, if he cared for the animal, he would have called an adult to take a look!! and all the other kids were cheering him on, thugs!!
heartless thugs, sad they're so young...
no one would batter anything to put it out its misery..
in few years time, he will be residing at belmarsh!!

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banjo8 says...
12:33pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Of course you can put an animal out of its misery. Does sound like it was outside the gates though. If we put anyone who kills animals decently and fairly in prisons an awful lot of people would be locked up!

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Sayso says...
12:54pm Wed 13 Feb 13

How did this thuggish little kid know the animal needed putting out of its misery? Is he some sort of veterinary expert at nine years old? For all he knows, the cat could have been saved if it has been reported to an adult and the animal taken to a vet. If this was my cat I would be absolutely heartbroken that some little yob had bashed my pet to death.

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banjo8 says...
1:19pm Wed 13 Feb 13

i undertsand people will be upset if their pet dies. I accept we don't know about this case, but half its head might have been hanging off - it might have been very clear it was going to die and that no vet could ever save it.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
1:44pm Wed 13 Feb 13

sayso, I would be upset too...
you can put an animal out its misery if you know what you're doing... a 9 yr old had no idea.
should have went and got an adult/teacher, and they would have took over, took it vets, and if it needed putting out its misery, the vet would have done this, not a little boy!!
basically he murdered the animal....and enjoyed doing so.... think of what that cat went through while it was put out its misery...

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the wall says...
2:27pm Wed 13 Feb 13

banjo8 wrote:
i undertsand people will be upset if their pet dies. I accept we don't know about this case, but half its head might have been hanging off - it might have been very clear it was going to die and that no vet could ever save it.
What and a nine year old knew this? Yeah right.

You don't like aniamls much do you. Going by all your comment in the last 3 days. Or are you just trolling?

There is the right way and wrong way to put an animal out of misery. Smashing it's head in isn't the right way.

You say ...'but half its head might have been hanging off'. So why start just making up a load of garbbo.
Why are you trolling?

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Virtual-Monster says...
2:35pm Wed 13 Feb 13

This story appears light on facts and without knowing all of the details all we can do is speculate.

It could be that this child wanted to put the cat out of its misery. At 9 years old I was able to despatch animals with aplomb and killing an injured animal was seen as a kindness.

It could be that this child is showing the early traits of a psychopathic serial killer.

Incidents like this stimulate interest and revulsion alike in children. Death, blood, pain are all part of life and children often can't control their reactions to such things. Over stimulated and over excited children do not have the boundaries and controls that adults do.

Let’s not judge until we know more.

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banjo8 says...
2:58pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Well said Virtual-Monster, I could not have put it better myself.

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Kakikomi says...
3:06pm Wed 13 Feb 13

the wall wrote:
The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges...... Becasue you can't. The boy is under the age criminal responsibility.

Criminal responsibility is age 10.
Well, maybe we should lower it. What I find most disturbing is that his classmates were enjoying it. I think this is the definition of 'Broken Britain'.

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RoseinJune says...
3:07pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Not many ADULTS have the boundaries and control either!

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Hk says...
3:38pm Wed 13 Feb 13

I think this whole thing is disgusting. I would like to think that if it was my cat that someone would have been a bit more thoughtful about how my cat was put out of its misery. If that had been my 9 year old that had done that I would be devastated or the fact my child had had to witness that. What sort of mind has that 9 year old got. Its scary I think.

Also it says that "The school reported the incident to an animal shelter in Lewisham". Why on earth was an animal shelter in Lewisham contacted. There is a vet just minutes up the road at Thamesmead Town Centre and a PDSA almost as close at the top of Eynsham Drive!

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the wall says...
3:39pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Kakikomi wrote:
the wall wrote:
The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges...... Becasue you can't. The boy is under the age criminal responsibility.

Criminal responsibility is age 10.
Well, maybe we should lower it. What I find most disturbing is that his classmates were enjoying it. I think this is the definition of 'Broken Britain'.
Why becasue of one nine year old child? I could understand if it was weekly reports of nine year old kids comminting crime but it isn't.

Knee jerk reaction are just that, the actions of a jerk.

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dandarko says...
3:49pm Wed 13 Feb 13

"Welcome to Thamesmead" is all I can say

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banjo8 says...
3:49pm Wed 13 Feb 13

And anyway, what crime has been committed? it could still prove to be the kindest thing which could have been done. Lay off the boy.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
4:27pm Wed 13 Feb 13

lay off the boy,says banjo8... he had no right to end the cats life at all.. he is a little boy in age, and a nasty cruel thug as well.. this is cruel no matter how you look at it.. if he was catapulting stones at ducks on a pond, because there was 1 injured, would that be ok ?? how many other times has he done animal cruelty, but this time he got caught, !

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pedestrian patsy says...
5:34pm Wed 13 Feb 13

To those people who say that this child was putting the cat out of its suffering by beating it to death, I have to ask how many qualified 9 year old vets have you met?

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
6:03pm Wed 13 Feb 13

patsy, what he did was cruel !! and half the people on here can't see that

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Bevangirl says...
6:49pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Of course it was cruel, and quite right, how many nine year old vets do we know. I can't bear to think how frightened and how much pain that poor little cat suffered at the hands of this child. Were there really no adults around at the time??????

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banjo8 says...
7:20pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Judging by the story you have to assume there were no adults around. Otherwise they would have hopefully stepped in to help and saved the boy from getting involved.

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bizzymum says...
7:58pm Wed 13 Feb 13

Other pupils were allegedly surrounding the cat and shouting excitedly as it was killed.

Allegedly means uncorroborated or un proven. In the same vein, the word "excitedly" doesn't always mean that children are thinking of Christmas. Perhaps, just perhaps, the other children were expressing their emotions in "an excited manner" which really doesn't imply they were happy about what they were witnessing or even egging someone else on.

Bring on the witch hunt before the facts are known. Perfick NS reporting!

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RoseinJune says...
8:24pm Wed 13 Feb 13

bizzymum wrote:
Other pupils were allegedly surrounding the cat and shouting excitedly as it was killed.

Allegedly means uncorroborated or un proven. In the same vein, the word "excitedly" doesn't always mean that children are thinking of Christmas. Perhaps, just perhaps, the other children were expressing their emotions in "an excited manner" which really doesn't imply they were happy about what they were witnessing or even egging someone else on.

Bring on the witch hunt before the facts are known. Perfick NS reporting!
Allegedly or not about the other children, the boy still finished that poor defenceless animal off..So if you get hit by a car...? I cannot put into words what I'm thinking! It's no wonder people seem to love animals more than humans if they are like you.

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bizzymum says...
9:29pm Wed 13 Feb 13

RoseinJune wrote:
bizzymum wrote:
Other pupils were allegedly surrounding the cat and shouting excitedly as it was killed.

Allegedly means uncorroborated or un proven. In the same vein, the word "excitedly" doesn't always mean that children are thinking of Christmas. Perhaps, just perhaps, the other children were expressing their emotions in "an excited manner" which really doesn't imply they were happy about what they were witnessing or even egging someone else on.

Bring on the witch hunt before the facts are known. Perfick NS reporting!
Allegedly or not about the other children, the boy still finished that poor defenceless animal off..So if you get hit by a car...? I cannot put into words what I'm thinking! It's no wonder people seem to love animals more than humans if they are like you.
My point is - how can anyone of us know what state the poor cat was in, how do we know the boy "beat the cat to death" or even whether other children were "encouraging" what appeared to be happening in front of them. We don't!

Maybe the driver of the car who hit the poor cat (allegedly) in the first place might like to comment. Or did they not stop at the scene?

Is this some sort of NS conspiracy theory week that I haven't heard about?

Lets just give the right people a chance to get on and find the facts before we judge. And for the record I love & value my pets as equally as I do my kids.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
8:07am Thu 14 Feb 13

this was daytime, how did the cat get run over in day time? boy chased the cat into road, saw it get hit by car, and then battered it... boy was involved right from start...

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banjo8 says...
8:29am Thu 14 Feb 13

Talk about put 2 and 2 together to get 5.
'Boy chased cat into the road' - you're just making stuff up far worse even than NS. Of course cats, or anything else get run over during the day. Cats run out under cars all the time. Its bound to be upseting for the owner, but at the end of the day its a cat and animals do not matter as much as humans.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
8:36am Thu 14 Feb 13

I THINK BANJO8 IS RELATED TO THE BRAT... KEEP STICKING UP FOR HIM!!!!

OR WAS YOU A THUG AS A KID AND HAVE RESIDED AT BELMARSH ... FOOL.. THE KID IS A MENACE TO SOCIETY...

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banjo8 says...
8:45am Thu 14 Feb 13

All Im doing is stating facts, if do don't like the truth you shouldn't bother commentating. And if you think someone is related to someone else just because they have a point of view your a crazy person.

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Inspirationalady28 says...
9:03am Thu 14 Feb 13

Truth; The kid beat that cat to death.

The RSPCA is also investigating but will not be pressing charges.

FACT; The RSPCA cannot press charges because the kid has to be 10 years old..(age of reason) to be prosecuted.

The council is now saying the incident happened outside the school grounds.

Fact; The school is not responsible for anything that happens off school grounds. It becomes the parents responsibility.

The RSPCA are still investigating and will get to the bottom of this believe me..it's animal cruelty!

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Hk says...
10:54am Thu 14 Feb 13

banjo8 wrote:
You're all just leaping in on the bandwagon to have a go at this poor boy when you have no idea what happened. If he put a badly injured animal out of its misery then good on him. If other kids around acted badly they should be ashamed of themselves.
Dont think bandwagon is the word. I think what most of us have felt is that what this boy did was wrong. At 9 years of age he should have known a little bit better than to take it upon himself to put the cat out of its misery. He should have alerted a teacher who should have then contacted a local vet or the PDSA which are both within 5 mins of the school.

Whether this happened inside the school grounds or out it was wrong and it scares me to think that this could have been witnessed by other children who, although the report says, some were excited and enjoying what they were seeing, may have been affected by seeing this happening.

I would hate to think that this could have been my cat but worse still would hate to think that this could have been my child.

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banjo8 says...
11:22am Thu 14 Feb 13

Don't wish to be pedantic Inspirationallady28 but its actually teh age of criminality, not reason.
Also, doesn't the term In loco parentis mean anything to you - school authorities do have a responsibility for the child on the way to and from school.
And as for HK saying this could have been my child, thats just ridiculous.

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Hk says...
2:58pm Thu 14 Feb 13

banjo8 wrote:
Don't wish to be pedantic Inspirationallady28 but its actually teh age of criminality, not reason. Also, doesn't the term In loco parentis mean anything to you - school authorities do have a responsibility for the child on the way to and from school. And as for HK saying this could have been my child, thats just ridiculous.
Maybe I didnt come across properly in what I said. I wasnt referring to it being your child, what I meant was, worse still if it had been my child that had done that to the cat or if one of my children had seen what was being done to the cat then I would be devastated.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
3:47pm Thu 14 Feb 13

banjo8, is just pathetic.... and actually is all for what this little boy did, as he keeps sticking up for the evil ways....
no 1 should comment anymore on this subject, as its getting banjo excited to be able to comment about this awful incident... the kid murdered the cat, looks like he chased cat into road, and cat got hit, then beat it up, to get rid of evidence as he would be in trouble for chasing cat in to road... if he did not get caught could have hid it in the park !

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mouthalmighty says...
4:54pm Thu 14 Feb 13

You've all gone stark raving mad. The full story(as usual) has not been reported. Every thing said is just speculation. And whats being in thamesmead got to do with it. There are more decent people living there than there is in Bexley and I speak from experience.

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TIGGY-LEWISHAM says...
5:29pm Thu 14 Feb 13

banjo8, is just pathetic.... and actually is all for what this little boy did, as he keeps sticking up for the evil ways....
no 1 should comment anymore on this subject, as its getting banjo excited to be able to comment about this awful incident... the kid murdered the cat, looks like he chased cat into road, and cat got hit, then beat it up, to get rid of evidence as he would be in trouble for chasing cat in to road... if he did not get caught could have hid it in the park !

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banjo8 says...
8:55am Fri 15 Feb 13

Only stating a point of view. You're getting yourself all worked up so if it makes you feel better I'll not say any more. Though still feel you're getting carried away with this one and being a bit crazy.

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mysticpoppy8 says...
3:49pm Fri 15 Feb 13

You are as bad as the child, you are condoning what he has done., You talk out of the top of your hat

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GODUPERE2 says...
8:37am Sat 16 Feb 13

Banjo, were you smacked over the head when you were a cat?

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wiss says...
1:22pm Mon 18 Feb 13

http://www.thisisloc
allondon.co.uk/where
ilive/southeast/bexl
ey/10229056.Thamesme
ad_schoolboy_beating
_cat_to_death_prompt
s_warning_from_anima
l_trust/?ref=rss

This article seems to have more info

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Boughelita says...
1:40pm Mon 18 Feb 13

I have children that go to this school, some of what was report is untrue, there was an incident with a cat but was not on the school grounds and other children was not " shouting excitably".

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pamela8 says...
8:50pm Mon 18 Feb 13

This rotten kid is a sadistic killer for the future..The best thing is for him and all other nasty things like him die in their sleep..its for the best.

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