West Ham defender Kurt Zouma and brother Yoan arrive at court over alleged abuse of pet cat

West Ham United defender Kurt Zouma has appeared at court after being charged over footage of him allegedly kicking his pet cat.

Zouma, along with his brother Yoan, are being prosecuted for offences under the Animal Welfare Act.

The pair arrived at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday morning.

In February, Zouma was allegedly filmed slapping and kicking his pet cat in a video which was uploaded to Snapchat by his brother.

Zouma was fined £250,000 by his club and his two pet cats were seized by the RSPCA.

The former Chelsea star also saw a lucrative sponsorship deal with Adidas terminated.

Zoma has continued to play for West Ham following the incident and throughout the RSPCA’s investigation.

His brother Yoan was temporarily suspended by Dagenham & Redbridge before being allowed to return to the squad in March.

‘I don’t think the club could take more action or any quicker. West Ham have fined him the maximum wages,’ West Ham manager David Moyes said of the club’s decision.

‘We all accept the actions are terrible and diabolical, but we’ve chosen to play him and we stand by that.

‘We are so disappointed it is completely out of character from Kurt. He is a really good lad we are going to get him some help and trying to give him as much help as we can.

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‘Like drink-driving offences, most people have to go to classes and the RSPCA are going to provide him with classes to understand about animals and how to treat them.

‘We will do everything we can to make sure Kurt is looking into it, and getting better,