French footballer Kurt Zouma, who pleaded guilty in a British court, managed to avoid prison but was punished by a London court
Kurt Zouma leaving the London Court where he was sentenced to community service (Photo: REUTERS)
A London court< /b>sentenced this Wednesday the French soccer player Kurt Zouma to 180 hours of community service after pledging guilty to mistreating his cat . The scandal broke out almost four months ago due to the dissemination on social networks of a video that caused great indignation because the figure of West Ham United is seen hitting a very violent kick to his pet< /b>.
However, this was not the only punishment imposed by the British justice on Zouma: also The Gallic player was prohibited from owning a cat for a period of five years. Judge Susan Holdham, who described her actions as “shameful and reprehensible”, decided not to allow her to have a pet again.
The video of the controversy, where Kurt Zouma is seen kicking and hitting his cat with his hand, was recorded on February 6 and shared on Snapchat by his younger brother Yoan, 24 years oldalso a footballer. The footage soon went viral on other social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.
Soccer player Kurt Zouma mistreats his cat
Once the scandal broke, Zouma began to suffer the consequences of his reprehensible act. He appeared in court on May 24 and the prosecutor Hazel Stevens explained that the acts occurred after the cats damaged a chair and assured that after the publication of the video there was “an increase in people beating cats and publishing the images on various social networks.”.
The two The player’s cats were placed in the care of the animal welfare organization Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), which launched a complaint that Kurt and Yoan Zouma< /b> were processed. The West Hamhe did not suspend the player and even made him play in a game the night the case was uncovered, but then received a financial fine of just over USD 300,000. In addition, the sportswear manufacturer Adidas broke its sponsorship contract with him.
The West Ham assured that the cats “have not suffered any physical injury.” Subsequently, they reported that Zouma was financially sanctioned and that the money was donated to organizations for the protection of animals.
Kurt Zouma is a West Ham player in the Premier League (Photo: REUTERS)
Kurt Zouma faced a possible Sentence of up to five years in prison due to the hardening of this type of sentence in 2021, but he managed to avoid jail. “I want to apologize for my actions. There are no excuses for my behavior, which I sincerely regret. The cats are fine, safe and sound. Everyone in the family loves them. This behavior was an isolated incident and will not happen again”, the French player who emerged from AS Saint-Étienne, who also wore the shirt, had written in a statement. b>Chelsea.