A father-of-three who strangled his pet kitten, threw it against a wall and stamped on its head after it scratched his daughter's face, has been sent to jail.

Francis Thomson, of Danesmoor, Banbury, pleaded guilty at Bicester Magistrates' Court yesterday to four charges of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

The court heard Thomson's attack was prompted when the 16-week-old kitten called Sooty scratched his daughter Megan's face in December last year.

The 21-year-old was jailed for three months and banned from owning pets until 2010 for killing the kitten after coming home drunk.

Paddy Roche, prosecuting, read out a statement from Thomson's partner, Samantha Skeet.

It read: "I said 'it's not dead.' I hoped she was still hanging on. He came out and started stroking the kitten and said 'it will be alright'.

"I went towards the kitchen. As I turned I heard a loud stamp. He had his foot over the kitten. I saw him stamp his foot again on it."

The court heard Thomson was at work when the kitten scratched his 18-month-old daughter's face on December 10, 2004.

Ms Skeet took Megan to the Horton Hospital in Banbury as a precaution.

When Thomson returned home drunk at 12.45am on December 11 he started strangling the kitten, then threw it against a wall before leaving it to die on the doormat.

After about 10 minutes he stamped on its head twice before threatening to burn it, the court heard.

Satyaman Singh, defending, told the court that Thomson was a devoted father who had shown regret and remorse since the attack. He acted because he did not want Sooty to scratch his daughter again.

Thomson was given the maximum sentence available under the Protection of Animals Act and was ordered to pay £606 costs. Chairman of the magistrates Robin Thistlethwaite said: "These are four callous and separate incidents of cruelty to a defenceless animal."

Inspector Annabelle Black, of Oxfordshire RSCPA, said afterwards: "The court recognises the severity of these actions.

"The cat went through a long and horrific ordeal. It's probably one of the worst cases I've investigated."