Mary Bale has pleaded guilty to the charge of causing unnecessary harm to a cat after it in a wheelie bin.
The 45-year-old appeared at Coventry Magistrates’ Court this morning following the incident which took place in Bray in August.
Coventry magistrates fined Bale £250 plus £15 victim surcharge and court costs of £1,171.04p.
She was also banned from keeping or owning animals for the next five years.
District judge Caroline Goulborn said: ”The media interest in this case has resulted in you being vilified in some quarters and I have taken that into account.
”I accept that you were in a stressful situation at the time, but that’s no excuse for what you did.”
Bale gained global notoriety when she was filmed dumping Lola the cat into a wheelie bin.
CCTV showed Bale grabbing Lola by the scruff of the neck, throwing her in a wheelie bin and slamming the lid shut.
The terrified tabby was trapped for 15 hours before her owners Stephanie Andrews-Mann, 24, and husband Darryl, 26, finally found her the following morning.
Bank worker Bale, signed off from her role at Natwest with stress following the incident, became a global hate figure – receiving threats from around the world.
She was charged with causing unnecessary suffering to a cat while a second charge of not providing the cat with a suitable environment was dropped.
Cat woman Mary Bale: the full timeline
August 23: Footage emerges of unknown lady dumping cat in bin
August 24: Story shocks world and woman goes into hiding
August 25: Public gets first glimpse of Mary Bale
August 25: Mary Bale apologises and is whisked away by the RSPCA
August 26: Customers at Mary Bale’s workplace call for her to be fired
August 27: Mary Bale is spoofed on Youtube
September 20: Mary Bale charged with animal cruelty
October 19: Mary Bale arrives at court and pleads guilty to animal cruelty charge
