Parish councillor in Whittlebury accused of firework attack on cats in Northamptonshire

According to LBC, Councillor James Garnor was investigated by police after reports emerged that he had set off explosives while cats entered a bugged birdhouse in 2023 in Whittlebury, Northamptonshire.

Despite footage from April 9, 2023, showing one such incident, Northamptonshire Police concluded there was insufficient evidence for criminal charges and instead issued anti-social behaviour measures against Garnor.

One of the cats allegedly targeted was Suki, belonging to local resident Nikki. Speaking to LBC, she described the distressing moment she learned what had happened.

"(Suki) came home one day missing her whiskers on her face - they looked like they’d been dissolved - so I put a post in my local community page on Facebook… just to warn people in case there was something she’d rolled in that had dissolved them," Nikki recalled.

She later discovered the true cause after a fellow resident reached out."Somebody contacted me to tell me it wasn’t what I thought it was, that somebody had actually blown my cat up and that it was my neighbour and local councillor. It made me feel physically sick."

Since the attacks, Suki has become withdrawn. "She used to be a lovely cat. She would come and sit for hours, cuddling and playing and bobbing her head all over you. If you wanted a cuddle, she was there - she was like a scarf around your neck," Nikki told LBC.

"Now she very rarely comes near you, and if she does, she’s got her claws out - she hisses, she growls. She’s not the loving cat she used to be—and I don’t blame her… the change in her happened pretty much overnight."

When approached by LBC, Northamptonshire Police did not confirm if they were aware of additional footage uncovered by the outlet. However, a spokesperson said: "We appreciate the concern incidents of this nature cause and want to offer reassurance that any such reports are taken seriously."