West Ham defender Kurt Zouma has been sentenced today for abusing his pet cat after a video of the incident came to light back in February.
The Daily Mirror reports that Zouma has been sentenced to 180 hours of unpaid community work, ordered to pay costs of £8,887 and banned from owning cats for five years after pleading guilty to kicking and slapping his pet.
The 27-year-old avoids jail time for his offence, whilst his brother who filmed the incident, Yoan Zouma, has also been sentenced to 140 hours of unpaid community work after facing a charge of “aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring Kurt Zouma to commit the offence.”
Judge Holdham took into consideration that both Zoumas had no prior offences and pleaded guilty at the earliest possible opportunity, in addition to Kurt Zouma being fined £250,000 by West Ham after the incident occurred in February.
Upon arriving at court today, Zouma was met with a giant cat standing outside the courtroom reports the Daily Star, which apparently didn’t impress the West Ham defender. This will be one of many taunts the Frenchman will have to deal with in the near future as the footballer looks to continue with his career.
The incident in question saw Zouma kicking and slapping his pet cat, whilst also verbal displaying to cause it serious harm. According to the BBC, the incident was filmed at the West Ham player’s home and posted on Snapchat by his brother on the 6th of February 2022. It was later seen by a woman who had been messaging Yoan, and she raised concern before the footage got into the hands of the media.
