Drunk owner, 48, who stabbed her cat up to 10 times then put it in a freezer with ready meals before it was rescued and miraculously survived - grins as she is spared jail 

• Suzanne Bennett, 48, knifed her cat Poppy up to ten times after drinking wine
• Bennett, from Manchester, put the ill cat inside her freezer before confessing
• Police arrived and Poppy incredibly recovery, and is now in the care of RSPCA
• Bennett was seen smiling and grinning outside court after she was spared jail 
• She was ordered to complete an 18-month community order and pay vet's bills

A pet owner who stabbed her cat up to ten times while she was drunk sported a grin and gave a thumbs up outside court as she was spared jail last week.

Suzanne Bennett, 48, from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, knifed her black and white moggy called Poppy up to ten times after drinking three bottles of wine on January 19.

She then dumped the critically ill feline inside her kitchen freezer alongside her frozen ready meals before she called the police to confess.

Officers heard the distressed cat meowing from inside the freezer when they arrived at Bennett's home and found the pet had sustained stab wounds to her leg and neck.

Poppy made a miraculous recovery after being treated by a vet and is now in the care of the RSPCA.

Bennett, who had two other cats, admitted to causing unnecessary suffering and was spared jail, instead being ordered to complete an 18-month community order after JPs were told she has severe mental health issues.

Bennett told Wigan magistrate's court last Thursday that she carried out the attack because she has a 'angel side and a satanic side'.

Bennett told the hearing: 'I had three cats for ten years, which were ten, nine and eight. 

'I had them since they were eight weeks old. I treated them like they were my children. 

'I looked after them before I looked after myself. I do not know how many times I stabbed them, by the way.'

She was also ordered to complete a nine month alcohol treatment requirement was fined £100 and told to pay £300 in vets' bills and £95 in costs. She was disqualified from keeping any animals for five years.

Anna McDonald, prosecuting, told the court that a vet found Poppy had ten wounds in total after the stabbing, 'ranging from a one-millimetre puncture to a four-centimetre puncture'.

She added: 'It's the vet's opinion that Poppy suffered from chronic pain as a result of her wounds.

'The vet also said the cat suffered mentally due to the injuries and from being confined in the freezer.' 

Bennett, who had no previous convictions, previously said in a police interview that she suffered from depression and for the past ten years, she had 'heard voices in her head'. 

Miss McDonald told the court: 'She said she turned the freezer to a high setting because she wanted to end the cat's life. She said she had an 'angel side' and a 'satanic side' and the 'angel side' had told her to get help.' 

Meanwhile, her lawyer Jed Frazer said in mitigation: 'She loved those cats and described to me that she loved them as if they were her children. She says they were always well looked after, and often, they were fed better than her.'