NEWS... BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT

West Ham footballer Kurt Zouma could be seen carrying out community service in public after he was filmed kicking his pet cat.

Zouma, 27, was also banned from keeping animals for five years when he admitted two animal welfare offences earlier this month.

The defender has been told by probation staff he will carry out his 180 hours of community service in public, according to The Sun.

Brother Yoan, who recorded the incident on Snapchat in February, was also ordered to carry out community service, which the pair were informed could include litter-picking, shovelling or cleaning graffiti.

A source told the newspaper: ‘This should be a big wake-up call to anyone in the public eye that if you do bad things, you’ll be treated like anyone else.

‘If he ends up clearing out canals then he’s only got himself to blame.’

Zouma was also fined £250,000 by West Ham and lost an Adidas sponsorship over the video, while he agreed for the two Bengal cats to be rehomed by the RSPCA.

Speaking after the story first surfaced, he said: ‘I want to apologise for my actions. There are no excuses for my behaviour, which I sincerely regret.

‘I also want to say how deeply sorry I am to anyone who was upset by the video. I would like to assure everyone that our two cats are perfectly fine and healthy.

‘They are loved and cherished by our entire family, and this behaviour was an isolated incident that will not happen again.’

Alongside kicking the pet across the kitchen in front of his seven-year-old son, Zouma was seen slapping its head and throwing a pair of shoes at it.

‘I swear I’ll kill it,’ he was heard saying in one clip.

In his own statement issued after the incident, Dagenham and Redbridge player Yoan added: ‘I deeply regret my involvement in the video that has been widely circulated and unreservedly apologise, not only for my actions, but for the upset and distress this will have caused to so many people.’

The pair were sentenced at Thames Magistrates’ Court on May 24, with district judge Susan Holdham describing the incident as ‘disgraceful and reprehensible’.

She said: ‘The cat looked to you to care for its needs – on that date in February you did not provide for its needs.

‘You must be aware that others look up to you and many young people aspire to emulate you.’

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Kurt Zouma banned from keeping animals for five years for kicking and slapping cat

RSPCA chief inspectorate officer Dermot Murphy added: ‘It’s never acceptable to treat an animal in this way and we were shocked when the video was first brought to our attention.

‘What makes this case even more sad is the way the video was filmed and shared, making light of such cruelty.

‘We hope this case will serve as a reminder that all animals deserve to be treated with kindness, compassion and respect, and that we will not tolerate cruelty by anybody.’

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