Kujawsko-Pomorskie

14th August 2009

Michal D., a 16-year-old from Wtelno near Bydgoszcz, filmed himself torturing a kitten and then placed the film on YouTube. The film shows the young man placing a terrified grey kitten in some kind of grain drier; he fiddles with the machine a while, then the kitten is shot out of the drier across the yard where it lies motionless before being set upon by a dog. The teenager placed the film online, thinking he couldn’t be traced, but his father’s car licence plate is clearly visible, showing ‘CBY’ – the ‘BY’ ending signifying Bydgoszcz. Outraged Internauts flooded Bydgoszcz police with calls regarding the film, some even going in person to complain. Izabella Szolginia, director of the Bydgoszcz Animal Shelter, was one of those shocked by the film. “As soon as I could I raced to the police station to inform them of the crime,” she told Gazeta.pl.

A team specialising in Internet crime took little time in locating the miscreant and went to pick up the startled youngster. The boy’s mother merely repeated to the arresting officers, “How could he have done such a thing! What was going through his head?” For the time being, the only explanation appears to be one of adolescent boredom. Michal D. did not deny making the film and now faces a charge of cruelty to animals in a juvenile court. Two cats were removed from the farm and have been taken to a shelter where they are awaiting a new owner. Fortunately both cats were unharmed.

In an unusual case, a 40-year-old woman attacked and robbed a 63-year-old man on the streets of Torun this Sunday. The woman was driving along ul. Batorego when on seeing the man she stopped the car, approached him and demanded money. She searched his pockets and, finding nothing, began punching him in the face. He tried to escape, but the woman caught him, beat him again and stole three zloty and a watch before getting back into her car and driving off. The man found a passing policeman and the assailant’s car was soon traced. When officers tried to arrest the woman, her female friend, a passenger in the car, tried to stop them, but they were both ultimately subdued. Both will appear in court, the 40-year-old woman facing up to twelve years in prison.

Meanwhile, back in Bydgoszcz police have arrested a gang of six men who specialised in mugging lone women. The gang, aged from 14 to 34, operated in the centre of Bydgoszcz for several months, targeting lone women before stealing their bags, ripping necklaces and other jewellery off them, before fleeing. Police have established that they are guilty of at least twelve such robberies and the three grown-ups face up to five years in ...