The sentencing of a 16-year-old boy who cooked a hamster in a microwave has been adjourned for five weeks.

The teenager, from Corby, Northamptonshire, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously pleaded guilty to one count of causing unnecessary suffering to an animal.

He was due to be sentenced at Kettering Youth Court on Friday but the case has been adjourned until March 12.

The boy has been released on bail while a second psychiatric report is prepared.

The RSPCA said that more than a day had passed after the incident before the white Golden hamster was taken to a vet for treatment.

The flesh on the animal's right hind leg was burnt away in the ordeal in March last year, according to a spokeswoman.

She added that the animal was put to sleep after the vet presumed there would also be organ damage.

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