Drug addict prompted by onlookers’ laughter to cut and EAT pet hamster jailed for a year
A woman who was filmed cutting and then eating her hamster named Mr Nibbles was jailed yesterday for 12 months.
Footage of the attack carried out by 39-year-old Emma Parker was shared online, prompting a warning from shocked RSPCA inspectors.
Two videos filmed at Parker’s home were sent to the RSPCA by a concerned member of the public, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
The first video was 27 seconds long and showed Parker repeatedly jabbing a large knife into a hamster ball containing Mr. Nibbles, then cutting the still-living animal in half.
A second video showed Parker holding a bottle of water and then eating the two dissected halves of the now-dead hamster, the court was told.
Footage of the attack carried out by 39-year-old Emma Parker was shared online, prompting a warning from shocked RSPCA inspectors.
Parker, 39, ate the hamster after cutting it in two while it was still alive, following attempts to stab it.
Gordon Holt, prosecutor, said: “The two videos seen on social media showed the defendant with a hamster in a hamster ball.
‘The defendant holds the ball with a knife in his other hand.
‘Take the knife and plunge it through the opening in the ball moving the knife from side to side.
‘A spectator is heard laughing and says ‘you’re a sick bastard’.
The hamster can be heard squealing repeatedly, it is allowed to escape and runs for a while.
The defendant tries to hit him with the knife, successfully at least once.
He pinches her neck so she doesn’t move.
‘He is still alive and uses the knife in a chopping and sawing motion over half of the hamster’s body.
‘In the second video, the defendant eats both halves of the stuffed body.’
During the interview with police, Parker, from Great Gonerby, Lincolnshire, admitted that the video was of her, and claimed that she was helping the hamster die after one of her dogs bit it earlier in the day.
Parker said the incident took place at his home last May, but declined to name those who filmed the footage, telling police “they’re not good people.”
A 27-year-old veterinarian who viewed the footage described the content as deeply disturbing, saying Nibbles would have suffered both physical and psychological harm, as hamsters are prey animals that can feel fear.
The vet added that he had never heard a hamster squeal like Mr. Nibbles did during his entire career.
Parker admitted to one charge of causing unnecessary suffering to a protected animal.
The court heard that Parker had been the subject of community warrants in both 2021 and 2022 for shoplifting offenses and had a long history of Class A drug addiction.
Chris Brewin, mitigating, said Parker had been attacked as a result of the video, with her house vandalized and dog droppings in the mailbox.
The court was told that Parker had been “tricked” by a drug dealer who lived nearby and was under instruction when she filmed the videos. In one of the clips, an off-camera woman can be heard laughing as Parker devours the rodent.
Parker appeared to be being filmed from a car window eating the hamster in footage shared online.
In passing sentence, Judge James House KC told Parker, who has since suffered burns in a car accident, that he had to take into account that Parliament had recently increased the maximum sentence for such animal cruelty from six months to five years. prison.
Justice House said it was “abhorrent” that violence should have been inflicted on a defenseless animal for the entertainment of others.
“The hamster was injured at least twice and then, while still alive, was cut in half,” Judge House said.
The judge banned Parker from keeping animals for 15 years after telling her he considered their cruelty “the most serious possible.”
Speaking after the case, RSPCA Inspector Andy Bostock said: “We share the public’s revulsion at this horrific incident and would like to thank the police for their support in this investigation.”
This kind of cruelty has no place in today’s society and it was a ruthless and merciless attack on a defenseless animal.
“It has been upsetting and upsetting to everyone who has been involved in this case.”
After the RSPCA first learned of the video, a spokesperson said: “This is an extremely disturbing video and we would like to reassure the public that we are investigating and working closely with the police.”
“Please do not share or comment on it as it increases the chances that other people will see it and become distressed.”
They also removed two dogs from Parker’s home.
Lincolnshire Police confirmed they arrested a woman on June 23 following the RSPCA investigation.
The court case evokes memories of the famous tabloid headline “Freddie Starr ate my hamster,” an early example of fake news.
The Sun story from March 1986 alleged that the hungry comedian had placed a friend’s pet hamster between two slices of bread and eaten it at their Manchester home, after the couple had returned there from an appearance on the stage in the city.
But what became one of the best-known newspaper headlines of all time was concocted by his publicist Max Clifford to draw attention to Starr’s tour. The comedian later said that he had never nibbled on “a live hamster, gerbil, guinea pig, mouse, shrew, vole or any other small mammal.”
Following Starr’s death four years ago at the age of 76, the Sun headline declared ‘Freddie Starr bonds with his hamster’.