(756)  HAMSTERS AND THE CRIMINAL COURTS

Mistreatment of hamsters appears to be the crime de nos jours in the Scottish courts in 2008.  After the tale of Andrew Thompson (No 729) we now have Steven Gordon, a 20 year old from Glasgow, who taped a hamster to a firework and then filmed the fuse being lit and the explosion of the firework on his mobile phone.  Gordon was found guilty of animal cruelty in January and sentenced to 220 hours of community service in early March.  The sentence was criticised by the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals who advocated a custodial sentence.

                                                          

During Gordon’s trial police had noted that a plea for information in relation to the conduct has received a better response than that received for a recent murder inquiry”.

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