Two boys aged 11 and 12 have been sentenced after "slamming and stamping" on more than 20 animals in horrific acts of cruelty.
The unnamed pair appeared at Uxbridge Magistrates' Youth Court on Thursday where they were both ordered to pay £200 in compensation, for which their parents will be liable. More than 20 animals were killed at an environmental college by the pair who were sentenced over animal cruelty charges.
Magistrate Lynn Green told the boys: "This is your crime, this is your punishment, not your parents'. You must do something to pay them back... whatever they ask you to do." A 30-minute hearing saw the boys given a community sentence and told they avoided prison time only because of their age and the fact they were not persistent offenders.
Referring to the CCTV footage of the incident, Ms Green said: "We didn't want to see the video, we can't face it." She added: "It is well you are not adults because you would have faced a significant time in custody." The break-in at Capel Manor College in Gunnersbury Park on February 25 left animals killed and enclosures damaged.
The boys had also stolen a number of animals including three snakes, ferrets and guinea pigs. Police found three children in the changing room of the park's sports centre playing with a snake. A barn owl named Shiraz which escaped during the break-in has since been recovered at a warehouse near Heathrow Airport. It is now being cared for at the college's Enfield campus.
As part of the referral order, both boys must attend regular meetings with their parents and youth offending teams for 12 months. During mitigation, Harriet Palfreman, defending the 12-year-old boy, said her client "understands the gravity of the offences committed" and that he is "susceptible to impulsivity".
Dafne Moran Toha, defence lawyer for the 11-year-old, said both boys "dispute voluntarily killing the animals" and that they had wanted to "take the animals out of their cages and play with them". The pair were "extremely remorseful for their actions", she added.