Suspended sentence for thug who fed rabbit to alligator

A yob who threw a zoo’s rabbit to the alligators was spared a spell behind bars today.

Damien French, 20, plucked the defenceless rabbit from a petting section of the Welsh Mountain Zoo in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, then dropped it into the nearby alligator pool.

It was immediately savaged by Albert, a large male alligator, who held its body clamped between his jaws.

When a young girl entered the alligator house and asked: “Is that a rabbit?”, French laughed as one of his two friends replied: “It was. It was running around 10 minutes ago.”

Jobless French was found guilty of animal cruelty at Llandudno Magistrates’ Court last month.

He was sentenced today to six months in custody, but the sentence was suspended.